Detrimental Reasons
by The Lightning Phoenix
Summary: In Northern Alaska a terrible attempt on life has ensued, leaving a pup mentally scarred and alone. Sworn to rule over all else, the Revolution relentlessly pursue their goal and it seems they can't be stopped. Tired of it all, one wolf can lead the survivors to victory.
1. Prologue (1)

**A/N**

**As a foreword, I'd like to ask all who are checking out my story to at least read up to chapter 10. Yes, I know it may be boring but you need to understand what elements make up a good story. Like _building good character development!_ Trust me, if you at least read to chapter 10 and still don't like it then that's fine with me.**

**Enjoy ;)**

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**Prologue**

**#1 The Beginning**

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It was a dark and cold night in the forest outside the town of Nome, Alaska. It was lightly snowing, the ground covered in a fresh layer of snow that sparkled in the light of the moon. The trees occasionally dropping the powder that rested upon them, sometimes smothering the unknown squirrel or rabbit.

In the forest there was a pack of wolves, the Nome pack, and cries of pain could be heard ringing through the forest, cutting the air like a knife through butter. The young head Alphas, Rain and his mate, Dawn, were soon to become parents.

"It's ok Dawn, I'm right here," said Rain as he held his mate's paw.

"Just PUSH!" said their healer, Helen. "Take deep breaths and push!"

"IT'S NOT THAT EASY!" Dawn yelled, seeming to forget that she was supposed to be the calmest wolf in the pack.

"I know that, I have been through this before you know," Helen replied.

"You'll be a mother soon, just think of that sweetie and keep pushing." said Rain as he kissed her forehead.

Driven by that motivation a newfound strength surged with Dawn as she pushed with all her might and Helen held up a wolf-pup with greyish fur and a white underbelly; the same as its mother. "It's a boy!" Helen announced with a smile on her face. "Don't rest yet, there's still one more to go! Keep pushing!"

Dawn clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, fresh tears flowing down her face as she pushed as hard as she could. Her efforts were credited and Helen held up another wolf-pup, this one with dark-grey fur and a white underbelly.

"Congratulations; you're now parents of two boys!" Exclaimed Helen as she gave one of the wolf-pups to both Dawn and Rain.

Dawn looked at the ball of dark-grey fur in her arms and grinned widely as tears of joy fell from her eyes. Rain was holding the lighter grey one, also crying but would deny it later.

"What should we name this one?" Rain asked looking down at the light-grey pup in his arms.

"I don't know...what do you think?" Dawn asked joyfully.

"What about...Balto?" Rain asked softly.

"Balto...I love it!" Dawn exclaimed. "And what about this one?"

"I named one, so you name the other," he said.

"Ok then...how about Riley?"

"That's brilliant! Balto and Riley it is then!" Rain exclaimed as both he and Dawn shared a kiss. "We're parents!" He laughed as he wiped a few tears from his eyes.

"I'll leave you guys now; I better get back to my own" said Helen as she began to leave.

"Thankyou so much Helen" said Dawn and Rain as they held their pups. Helen smiled at their enthusiastic praise.

"The miracle of life is beautiful, I wouldn't want to miss it for the world. Anyway, if you two need anything, just let me know." Helen then turned and left.

* * *

A week had passed since the birth of Riley and Balto and the pack seemed to be doing well, Dawn and Rain were taking care of them but finding it harder to cope with both running the pack and making sure Riley and Balto were safe.

In the head-Alpha den, two wolf-pups were suckling their mother when Helen walked in with a sad look on her face.

"Sir, something had happened to one of the patrol groups. Two of the wolves disappeared."

"What!? When did this happen?" asked Rain.

"About an hour ago, the remaining two were looking for the others."

"I'll go have a talk to them. "Are you okay with that dear?" He asked as he turned to Dawn who nodded approval.

"I'll be fine. You just go." She said as she curled around her pups and put her tail over them. He then nodded and left with Helen.

Soon they had reached Helen's den with the two wolves inside and walked in.

"Rain, Sir," they both greeted him.

"Good evening, what happened today?" He asked.

"Sorry that we had to lie to you Helen, but a party of three skilled wolves jumped us, killed the other two and outmatched us. They said they would let us live if we gave this message to you and you alone: "_We are coming for you now, and you will all die_.""

"What?! Who were they!?" Rain growled angrily.

"They said they were the Revolution before saying "_Dulcet decorum est pro patria mori_" and running off, leaving us alone. Then we came here." He replied.

"What should we do Sir?" asked Helen.

"We'll have to evacuate...judging by how they took out the half of the patrol, they are highly skilled." Rain turned to the one of the two Alphas and said quickly, "You. Go to all the Alphas and tell them the pack is threatened and they need to be on alert whilst we evacuate." He turned to the other one and said "You go and tell all the Omegas and mothers with pups and tell them to get out of here before it's too late." As the two left, another wolf came in, obviously looking for someone urgently. He saw Rain and a sense of relief flooded his face.

"Sir, we've had scouts report that they are seeing things on our borders." He said.

"Yes, we are under attack and we are on high alert. We are evacuating all the mothers and pups and the Alphas are staying to protect them." Rain replied solemnly.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" The wolf asked.

"No, that is all for now. Go and gather your family."

"Yes Sir." He replied and the wolf ran out of the den.

"Sir, what shall I do?" asked Helen. Helen was the pack healer after all, therefore she would be required to help in any war the pack may have. Rain seemed to have other plans for her though.

"Go. Go and take Jenna, just get out of here. I can't lose another brilliant healer." He replied and Helen nodded, before she left. Rain could swear he could see a tear in her eyes, but he knew why.

About 2 months ago when Helen was pregnant with Jenna her mate Jake went missing. Jake was one of the best healers they had ever seen and when Helen and Jake met, they were perfect for each other. Not much later after that they were married, and then Helen fell pregnant with Jenna. Jake wasn't there to witness Jenna's birth, and for all they know he could be dead.

Then he left the den, headed straight for the main den.

As he arrived at the den, he was relieved to find Dawn sitting there with Balto and Riley asleep next to her.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"Yes...you have to leave right now!" Rain exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a shocked expression on her face.

"We're under attack by a clan of wolves that call themselves 'the revolution' and you need to get far away from here, where you and the pups will be safe."

With that, Rain and Dawn ran as fast as they could; each carrying Riley and Balto and before long they had reached the edge of the territory.

"Ok dear, you need to keep running now no matter what."

"What about you?"

"I need to fight, we need to make sure the rest of us evacuate in time."

Dawn silently nodded, tears flowing down her face.

"Shhh...It's ok, I'll be ok." Rain said as he embraced her.

"I love you," Dawn said and she cried into his shoulder before kissing him. "Make sure you meet us there"

"I will," he said as he kissed her back before turning and running back towards their pack.

"You better," she said to herself sadly.

* * *

Dawn was running, tears still dripping off her face, towards the east and she was now inside the border of Canada. After the endless running she was very tired.

"I guess this is far enough to take a break," she panted as she lay down and covered her pups with her tail.

She could hear running water nearby, realised how thirsty she was from all the running, so decided to investigate.

"I'll be right back," she whispered to her pups, who were fast asleep.

After making sure her pups were comfortable, she went off to look for some water. In a few minutes, she found a creek with running water so she knew it was safe to drink. Leaning down to drink some, she noticed a rustling in the bushes and turned around growling.

"Who's there!?" She growled.

Then a small light grey wolf-pup came out the bushes with sparkling yellow eyes.

Dawn stopped growling instantly as she realised who was in front of her. Then she started to cry.

"Oh Balto you opened your eyes!" She exclaimed and he nodded. "What about your brother; is he ok?"

Just then a loud roar could be heard throughout the forest and Dawn's eyes widened.

"Riley!" She whispered in fear. "Balto stay behind me," she said as they went back over to the clearing where Riley was still sleeping under the tree. "We have to leave. Now." she said before the roar could be heard a lot closer.

"Wake your brother up," she said to Balto who nodded.

"Riley, wake up we have to go now," Balto whispered in his ear.

The dark grey pup stirred, then opened his eyes letting light in for the first time. He had to squint so as not to let too much light in because it would hurt his eyes.

Dawn turned around to see that both of her pups eyes had now opened-a proud moment for any mother and father. She wished Rain could be here for this moment.

She looked at Riley's blue-purple eyes that were full of innocence and vulnerability.

"Ok you two, let's get going" Dawn smiled before turning towards the east ready to head off.

"Yes mum," they both said at the same time before breaking out laughing at each other.

"This is not the time and place for that guys we have to get out of here before-" she was interrupted by the noise of a tree falling to the ground-a large bear standing up on its hind legs ready to attack its prey.

A look of sheer horror came upon. Dawns face and her blood turned to ice.

"BOTH OF YOU RUN AWAY-" Dawn yelled before she was hit in the side by the bear's massive paw sending her into a tree. She cried out in pain before she fell to the ground, barely conscious.

"MUM NO!" yelled Balto as he ran in front of Dawn growling at the bear.

"Balto...take your brother...and run..." moaned Dawn.

"NO MUM I WON'T LEAVE YOU-" Balto shouted before he was hit in the side with sickening force and a wet crunch could be heard.

"NOOOOO!" wailed Dawn as she saw her son hit into the fast-flowing river.

The bear was about to finish Dawn off when out of no-where a tan-brown wolf jumped up onto the bear and ripped it's throat out in one swift moment.

The bear let out a roar as it collapsed on the ground; dead.

The tan wolf ran over to Dawn who was barely living.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Dawn replied weakly "No...I'm not going to make it...please...find my sons...make sure they're...ok...and tell them...I...love them." With that final request, Dawn took her last breath, blood leaking out the sides of her mouth. A shard of one of her ribs that had broken had stabbed her heart when she fell.

"I will," said the Wolf. He could hear something to his left-behind a tree. He walked up to the tree and peered behind it to see a dark-grey pup shaking uncontrollably. "Hey there little guy," he said as the pup moved further away in fright. "It's ok-I'm not gonna hurt you," he said calmly.

"Is mum ok?" Riley asked.

"I'm sorry, but your mother passed away protecting you," said the wolf.

After hearing this, Riley burst into uncontrollable tears.

"Hey there it's ok...do you know what her last words were?"

"No...what?" Riley sniffled.

"She loves you. You and your brother," he said.

Realization dawned in Riley's eyes and he started crying again.

"What's wrong now?" He asked.

"Well...my brother got hit into the river when he tried to protect mum...and i just sat here doing nothing but watching," Riley cried as he sniffled.

"Hit into the river you say?" Said the wolf.

"Yeah," Riley sniffled.

The wolf thought to himself for a moment. _There's no way a pup that size could survive a hit like that into a river._

"Hey, what's your name?" Asked the wolf.

"R-Riley."

"I'm Luke, but I'm sorry to say that your brother is most likely dead," said Luke.

"Really?" Whimpered Riley.

"I'm sorry-don't you have any more family?" asked Luke.

"No, my dad is fighting in a war at the moment way back in Nome in Alaska. That's why mum and Balto and I were escaping," said Riley.

"Oh-well, you can stay with me if you want to and I can teach you how to be a wolf," said Luke.

"Really?" Riley lit up.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Luke grinned.

"Ok then," Riley smiled.

* * *

Back in Nome, a small group of wolves sat huddled together in the forest, many badly injured or crying over lost loved ones. The war had lasted about an hour, about three quarters of the pack was killed off before they had eventually ran away in defeat.

"Rain Sir, what are we going to do?" whispered Helen next to Rain.

"I don't know...let's just try to calm them all down." Rain began clearing his voice when someone shouted out.

"SOMEONE come over here! There's a pup in the river!"

"What?" Rain said as he walked over to the wolf.

"Look," the wolf said pointing at a small lifeless wolf on the edge of the pond.

Rain looked closely and his eyes widened with shock. It was Balto.

"NO!" He yelled as he ran over to his son. "Wake up!" He said as he shook him. All of a sudden Balto opened his eyes a coughed up lots of water mixed with blood. "HELEN" he yelled.

"What is it? Oh no...someone, quickly! Run into the forest and find some large leaves and get her some tree sap!" Helen yelled as she saw him. "I have to get some herbs I'll be right back so stay here and keep him awake Rain," Helen yelled as she and another ran off into the forest.

"What's wrong?" Said a small red and white pup behind Rain. He looked at the pup and remembered who it was.

"Hey Jenna, this is my son Balto. He's in a very critical condition and he needs your mum's help." Rain replied trying not to break down.

Jenna looked in fixation at the half-dead wolf pup before her. _He must be in a lot of pain, I hope he's alright. I haven't met him before, he must have only been born a little while ago_ she thought to herself.

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**A/N**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter ;) don't forget to leave a review! Also please ignore all the other Author's notes that say something like "okay 4 more reviews for next chapter plz" because I'm no longer reliant on reviews nor am I a review-whore xD. It's still nice to hear some constructive criticism though ;)**


	2. Part One: New Beginnings (2)

**A/N  
**  
**Blewlelewlewlewlewlewlewlewlwelewsquirrel**

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**Part One**

**#2 New Beginnings**

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Riley trudged along behind the strange wolf called Luke, the snow freezing his already sore paws and making them sting.

"Umm, Luke Sir? My paws are really hurting" He said.

He turned around and looked at Riley's paws. "Hmmm yes you have blisters on them no wonder they hurt; I can't believe I forgot you can't travel very far for too long at a time because the padding on your paws hasn't fully developed yet" he said to Riley as he looked around. He seemed to come to a conclusion about something and stopped to turn to him. "Looks like good a spot as any to stop for the night-the sun has already begun to go down. You know what that means Riley?" He asked as he looked over to the sun.

"No...what?" Riley replied uncertain as what he was getting at.

"Ha ha, I guess you are pretty young, but that means the day will turn to night when the moon comes out. And the moon is what many wolves howl to when you've found your soul mate" Luke replied.

"Oh I see. What does this 'moon' look like?" Riley asked eager to find out what was so special about it.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to see and find out-judging by my calculation we've got about 10 minutes until the sun is down and the moon fully out and you don't want to miss out on tonight's; it's going to be a full moon! You are one lucky pup to open your eyes on the date of a full moon; it brings good fortune and means you'll find a very beautiful mate" He winked as he said the last part and made Riley laugh.

"Oh shut up! I'm not old enough to understand that sort of stuff yet. All I know is that a mate is someone you share your life with. Someone that you love with all your heart and soul. At least that's what my mum and dad said to me when she told us stories at night. I still had my eyes closed back then so I never got to see my dad." Riley said as he began to tear up a little bit.

"Yes, a mate is one which you love dearly with all your heart and soul but I'm very sad to hear you never got to see your dad. Hopefully he is ok and maybe you can be reunited with him one day"

"That would be one of the greatest days of my life!" Riley said as his stomach rumbled and Luke laughed.

"I'm sure it will but you need to get something in that tummy of yours. I'll be right back with some food. Stay here." he said as he trotted off into a clearing nearby.

Although, Riley was curious as to where he would find food so he decided to investigate and followed him. As Riley reached the clearing he saw him get low to the ground-his belly nearly touching it. He noticed Luke's eyes were trained on something, so he followed his gaze to a large beast that seemed to have horns coming out of its head. Then with the speed of an eagle he rushed forward and pounced upon the great beast, placed his jaws on its neck and ripped its throat out. Riley was mortified, shocked and disgusted, he felt like he was going to puke. _Luke just killed that beast...for food? How could he take life so easily?_ He was walking back towards their little camp dragging the beast with him before he noticed Riley and dropped it.

"Riley-what did I say? Didn't I tell you to-" Luke paused as he examined Riley's face. "You look very pale!" Luke exclaimed. "Are you OK?"

"You monster! You just took the life of some beast and are going to eat it? That's disgusting!" Riley shouted in horror. Luke then lost the worried look on his face and chuckled to himself.

"Listen Riley, let me tell you a little thing about wolves" he said as he sat down next to him. Riley nodded for him to continue, but was still shocked. "Well, we wolves are right up the top of the food chain-which means that we eat most things that are below us. However, we do not kill what we won't eat unless in self-defence."

"So...you aren't some maniac that just...killed something?" Riley asked.

Luke laughed and smiled before saying "No Riley...that 'something' is called a caribou and it's what all wolves usually eat to survive-it's just nature. There is nothing wrong about it, it's only wrong when you kill something that you won't eat unless in self-defence, like the bear that killed your mother." Riley nodded and he continued. "Believe me-I was the same as you when I was a pup; I never wanted to hurt anyone or ever kill anything until I was shown the way of life, now I know it's part of nature I have no quarrels with killing for food."

"Well...what animals do you kill for food?" Riley asked curiously.

"Well, you can eat rabbits, squirrels and many types of deer-including caribou-which are native to this country" he replied.

"Luke, what country are we in?"

To this Luke looked slightly amused, but then shook away his amusement and said "We're in a country known as Canada, but we are in small part of that country, which is called a state. The state we are in is called Alberta."  
Riley thought about this for a moment before realizing something. "Luke...I'm from Nome, Alaska...how far away is that?" he asked.

"What!?" Luke exclaimed.

"Nome, Alaska. How far away is it from here?"

"That's over fifteen hundred kilometres away!" Luke exclaimed. "How long since you left?" He then asked.

"Well...maybe about 3 days ago?" Riley said a little unsure.

"Your mother was very fast for carrying two pups on her back..." Luke started before his face turned pale.

"What's wrong Luke?" Riley asked.

Luke looked absolutely petrified before he grabbed Riley by the scruff and ran.

"Luke...is something the matter?" Riley asked.

He replied through muffled jaws "Keep quite Riley I'll tell you when we're safe."

After hearing that Riley kept his mouth shut for the rest of the way.

* * *

They soon approached a cave and Luke went inside before placing Riley down.

"Where are we Luke?" Riley asked.

"We're in a place called Jasper, but we're still in Alberta." Luke replied as he put Riley down.

"Why were we running?" Riley asked.

"Well...I'll tell you..." Began Luke as he looked to Riley. "Two years ago, I was in a pack. We were just a small pack, maybe 15 at the most, but we were all happy. It was in Alaska, and we were attacked."

"Really!? By who?" Riley asked.

"Riley let me ask you something. Was your mum running away with you and your brother because your pack was under attack?"

"Actually, yes...my dad said something about a revolution?" Riley said unsure.

"Yes...I thought as such..." Luke trailed off.

"What do you mean? Do you know them?" Riley asked.

"Yes. They were who attacked our pack." Luke said and Riley let out a gasp.

"Yes, it's true. Although we survived it and we moved to where we are now, in Alberta. I used to be in this pack, until something happened and I had to leave."

"Huh? Why did you have to leave?" Riley questioned.

"I'll tell you another time because right now, we have more pressing problems to deal with. Such as why their lieutenant was spying on us, which is because I think he was trying to kill you."

"WHAT!?" Riley exploded. "Why is he trying to kill us?" He said fearfully.

"Not kill us, kill you. You are the heir to your pack, so they must have followed your mother to kill off your pack. They must have seen your brother go down, and followed us so that he could kill you.

"Why are they doing this?" Riley muttered.

"They are the Revolution, they want to kill off all other packs so they can rule over this country." Luke replied.

"So they're going to come for me to kill me?" Riley asked.

"Yes, one day they will try again. Although probably not until they've taken over more of Alaska, because they are too preoccupied to deal with a pup that is hardly any threat." Luke said.

"What does that mean for us?" Riley asked.

"It means, they are hoping you won't be trained by that time so they can kill you off easily, I mean, you don't have anyone to train you except some lone-wolf that they don't think will want to have anything to do with you. Therefore, I am going to ask you a serious question: Do you want me to train you to become a wolf?" Luke asked.

"Really? You would do that for me?" Riley asked as his face lit up.

"Well, I can't turn away a wolf that's in need, especially a young pup with no orientation." Luke replied as he walked to the other side of the cave and laid down. "If you accept the training that is."

"Ok then. I accept, and thank you Luke." Riley said smiling.

"Haha, don't worry about it kiddo. You'd better get some rest then because we start tomorrow. At dawn." Luke added.

"Hey Luke, my mum's name was Dawn." Riley said as he laid down near Luke.

"Yes, it was. I'm sorry I couldn't help her. I'm a Healer, but she was too badly injured for me to be of any help to her." Luke said.

"It's ok. That's life." Riley replied.

_Strong resolve_ thought Luke. _That's good._

They were both drifting off to sleep when a cold burst of wind rushed through the cave. Luke was unaffected, however Riley with his undeveloped pelt was quickly becoming cold. Luke noticed this when Riley involuntarily shivered and whimpered.

_Poor kid, he isn't going to get any sleep tonight while he's frozen_ thought Luke as he got up and laid down next to him.

Riley opened his eyes to see Luke next to him, keeping him warm. "Thanks" He said as he dropped his head into Luke's fur.

"Well, I can't have you sleepy on your first day of training now, could we?" Luke said smiling, although Riley was already asleep.

_Haha, well he has had a rough day_ Luke thought as he too, dropped his head into his paws and began to peacefully sleep.

The only thing that could be heard was the sounds of the swift wind coursing through the trees outside.

* * *

**A/N**

**Don't forget to review, I'll upload the next chapter when we get another 5 reviews! Also, if you haven't already be sure to follow the story to keep up to date with updates! **

**To Omega Lunk and Delta Frost: Why don't you guys just make an account? It's easier and that way you can be notified when new chapters are out by following the story :) plus it gives you the ability to PM people too so even if you aren't going to write a story you may as well create one seeing as it is rather easy :)**

**To all my other reviewers: Thank you very much for taking the time to review, it really does help me out a lot and It's my goal to get this story into the top 10 stories on the A&amp;O archive :)**

**If you are unsure about anything, just PM me and I can help you out! I'm thinking of releasing a guide to help writers become better at writing as well so let me know if I should do that :)**

**Ok lads, see you in the next chapter and as always, have a good one :)**


	3. Part One: Training Begins (3)

**A/N**

**I love my reviewers, they make me happy so I really wish all of you guys who read my stories to review because it helps me a bunch! As always, constructive criticism is always welcome! For some reason my laptop has corrupted all the files for this story BUT I just transferred them over to my mums laptop and they work perfectly fine so thank GOODNESS for that!**

* * *

**Part One**

**#3 Training Begins**

* * *

There were a few yearning yellow rays of the northern sun slipping through the trees and through the mouth of the den. Right onto the blue-purple eyes of the now-awake but drowsy Riley as he got up and stretched his aching barely-developed muscles, eager to start the day in his happy mood that was natural to a pup. He looked around and found that Luke was nowhere to be seen and frowned slightly.

_I wonder where he is at this time of morning._

He was just about to call out to him but was abruptly cut off when he saw Luke moving swiftly through the trees with two squirrels dangling limply from his mouth.

Riley smiled as Luke neared the den, eager to eat his first meal as a wolf-in-training.

When Luke got to the den, he dropped the two squirrels onto the floor and looked at the scrawny pup in front of him.

_Today is a big day for him, it was fortunate I found 3 squirrels this morning when I was hunting so he can have a big breakfast because with what I've got in mind for him, he'll sure need it._

"Dig in" Luke said as he nudged both the squirrels in front of Riley.

Riley was about to do just that, but he noticed Luke had put both squirrels before him, leaving himself with nothing.

"What about you Luke? I noticed you don't have any food." He said as he pulled back from the squirrels.

"Oh no don't worry about me!" Luke laughed, "I've already had something to eat when I was out hunting this morning, so it's all yours. Besides, you'll need all the strength you can get today"

After he was satisfied with the answer Luke gave him, Riley began to eat the first squirrel-only to get all bits of fur in his mouth making him cough and sputter trying to get it out of his mouth. When he turned to Luke he saw him lying on his back, laughing hysterically.

"Hey-don't be mean! I've never had meat before and I don't know what to do with the fur..." Riley complained as he shuffled his paws awkwardly.

Luke managed to calm himself down to a reasonable degree, at least to a point where he was capable of speaking and looked at Riley, looking glum in despair as if he'd done something wrong.

"Hey come on...I'm sorry I laughed but it was pretty funny-even though you couldn't help it." Luke said but Riley wasn't convinced. "Here-let me show how you're supposed to do it"

And with that, Luke went through all the steps of removing the fur to get to the tender juicy meat underneath. As this was his first proper meal of meat, as soon as Riley learnt how to take the fur off he practically skinned the thing before devouring it to the depths of his stomach.

"Well-you sure were hungry" Luke smiled as he saw the now satisfied pup chewing on a small bone from one of the squirrels.

"That...was...AMAZING!" Riley exclaimed full of energy. "I had never had meat before now-and it tasted awesome!"

"Oh yeah? Just wait until I find us a Caribou-you'll be blown away!" Luke replied with enthusiasm as he got up to leave the den. "Come on, now that you've got seemingly endless energy we'll start your training right away."

"Okay!" Riley replied cheerfully before leaping out of the den and rolling onto the grass outside.

_Where does he get all of his energy from? I know he's a pup but he is definitely an energetic one-which is good_ thought Luke smiling.

"Okay-first thing we are doing today is a 1km run, running from here through the woods to a clearing over a hill. All you need to do is follow me and keep up." He said as he was stretching. Although it was only a very small run for a young adult like him, he still knew the importance of stretching before any strenuous activity. "Oh and by the way Riley, you might want to limber up a little bit" Luke said as he cast a sidewards glance over to Riley, although to his surprise was already stretching out like he was. "Ha, looks like you beat me to it"

"Yeah-my dad always said to me that it's good to stretch before any strenuous activity to make sure you don't get cramped muscles because they hurt a lot" Riley replied.

"You and your dad were close?" asked Luke in a delicate manner, so as to not make him upset in any way.

"I guess you could say so-he used to tell us stories, my brother and I. We would both listen to him as we went to sleep because it was rather peaceful"

Luke retracted to his thoughts again before stepping into gear. "Righto let's get a move on-you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah! I'm ready to become a wolf!" Riley shouted and Luke could only laugh at his enthusiasm.

"We got a long way to go before that, we have about 7 months of pre-training then a year of full training"

Riley couldn't help but let out a surprised squeak. "WHAT!? 7 months of only pre-training and then a whole YEAR!? My dad said normal Alpha training was only for 3 or 4 months! Not 18 months!"

"Let me tell you what a regular alpha school does. They teach you complete basics in each area of expertise and there are several areas in total. These include Combat, Tracking, Orienteering, First Aid, Hunting, Stealth and Camouflage. There's also a Physical Fitness course which trains your body in Agility, Strength, Endurance, Coordination and Speed"

"Woah...that's heaps" were the only words a stunned Riley could produce.

Luke just smiled as he continued "Regular Alpha training only does the basics of all of those but it does full physical fitness-which is why regular Alphas are dominantly fit over Omegas" Luke looked at the pup again "You still following?" Riley nodded and he continued "Then the next level up is a Beta, the Betas receive extra Tactic and Strategy training by the previous Beta because that's their job-as lieutenant of the pack they organise most of the defences and also they have higher level of the several areas of training. Now we head into the Delta stage. Only two types of wolves get Delta training, the two being the pups of the pack leaders and the pack healer-and they are both trained by the pack leaders themselves. Although the healer can decide whether or not they want full Delta training. Basically, the Delta training includes full First Aid and Medical training, as well as almost complete training in all other areas. Since they are trained night and day by the best in the pack, they can make up for the time."

By the time Luke had finished Riley was zoned out from hearing all the cool things about the ranks so Luke had to wave his paw in front of him to get his attention.

"Oh sorry" Riley said after he snapped out of it. "That's cool all the different ranks and all!" He said excitedly "So what training are you giving me?" He then asked.

"Well, to be honest-none of what I told you. I am giving you the best type of training; rank-less training." Luke saw the puzzled look on his face and digressed further. "If you're up to it, I can give you full training in all areas-and at the end...no never mind. I'll tell you when we near the end of your training. So, what do you think? It'll be tough, so I hope you'll-"

"Yes I want to do it!" Riley exclaimed, cutting off Luke in the process.

"You're sure?"

"Yes"

"Absolutely positive?"

"Definitely"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?"

"What?" Riley tilted his head in confusion.

"Nothing-let's head out, follow me!" Luke said as he began at a slow pace towards the trees.

"Hey! Wait up I'm coming!" Yelled Riley as he caught up to Luke. The two shared and glance and laughed as they ran.

Before they knew it, Riley and Luke made it to the clearing and Riley ran straight up to and into the pond, letting the refreshing water cool his tiny puppy body as he lapped up as much water as he could.

The run hadn't been too hard on Riley, but the sun had come out harsher then Luke expected and they were both thirsty, although Luke wasn't anywhere near as hot and bothered as Riley was.

* * *

After their first run that morning, Luke had told Riley to run up and down the small hill until he got back from hunting lunch. Surprisingly enough, when he got back with a small female caribou Riley was still going at it and he'd been over half an hour.

He dragged the caribou over to the edge of the pond and called Riley over. When he got nearer, he could see that Riley was really tired and looked as if he could barely stand.

_He didn't seriously run up and down the hill the whole time did he?_ Thought Luke as he motioned for Riley to lay next to him.

"Riley-were you running up and down that hill the whole time I was gone or did you take a break at all?" Asked Luke.

"No...You...said...not...to...stop...until...you...came...back...so...that's...what...I...did!" Wheezed Riley as he let his tongue flop out, panting wildly.

"Wow...good job! At this rate, you'll be as fit as me in no time!" Luke said as he turned his attention on the caribou. "Now...do you want to try some caribou?" He asked Riley, who was still panting like crazy.

"Oh...caribou? Oh CARIBOU! Yes please!" Riley replied and Luke laughed at his outburst.

"Well...dig in then"

* * *

Both Luke and Riley were sitting under the shade of a tree nearby the pond, both with full stomachs and a satisfied aura around them both.

"That was the best thing I've had in my whole life! No joke!" Riley exclaimed.

"Well good, because it was quite hard to take down by myself-but I reckon in about 4 months you'll be able to take one down yourself" Luke said and Riley's eyes widened in shock.

"WHAT!? 4 months!? That's only like, 4 months away!" Riley exclaimed and Luke laughed again.

Luke looked over to the mountain ranges off to the right and decided that he would take Riley through there at some point of his Orienteering training.

_I can't remember the last time I laughed before I met Riley. He brings out a side in me I thought had long since passed…_

* * *

**A/N**

**So, I'll be kind and put the next chapter up at 4 more reviews so PLEASE REVIEW I WANT TO DELETE THE BACK-UP! (Which is the original, therefore I can remove the "RE-WRITE" from the story title) I just have to wait until I have posted up to chapter 8 :)**

**Also be sure to follow the story so you know when I have updated and if you think my story is good, perhaps favourite it ;)**

**As always guys, have a good one :)**


	4. Part One: The Hunter and his Prey (4)

**A/N**

**Well wasn't that a ridiculous amount of reviews in a short period of time? Thank-you for all the support guys please continue to review each chapter because it helps me more than you can imagine! ;D enjoy!**

* * *

**Part One**

**#4 The Hunter and his Prey**

* * *

_4 Months Later_

It has been four months since Riley's training began and under Luke's careful instruction he was already turning into what would pass as an average Alpha. Survival skills, Combat, Orienteering, Hunting, Stealth, Tracking, First Aid, Camouflage all down to a level that was acceptable in a normal pack-yet only scratching the surface. Riley was coping very well with the training and is now 5 months old-about the time when a wolf normally changes from a pup to an adolescent.

This being said, his psychological age is much higher than what he is; all of the bad things that have happened in his life and just generally not growing up in a family.

The tricky and embarrassing part for Luke was explaining to Riley what 'mating' was and the differences between the two genders. Of course after hearing that information, Riley was taken aback and had a disgusted feeling in him-to which Luke could only laugh his ass off to.

The day was coming near where Riley was going to have his first proper hunt-not just squirrels and rabbits-but caribou. Although Riley doubts himself, Luke knows the full extent of Riley's skills and knows he can do it.

* * *

"Riley, what are you doing?" Yelled a mid-sized tan wolf as he jumped up the rocks behind his student.

"Ha, I can see it! Luke, look over there!" A blue-purple eyed, light grey Riley yelled back.

"Where?" Asked Luke.

"Just over there" Riley said as he pointed to a large object that was moving across the ground rather fast.

"Aha, I see, that's just a train Riley, the humans built then so they can carry themselves and other things across the land faster" Replied Luke "and that specific train is called the Canadian express and it travels through this country and up past Jasper Park which is where i first brought you after I found you"

Every morning when Riley got up to go for a run and Luke went out to hunt for breakfast, Riley would spot the large metal object flying across the land-always curious as to what it was. Well, at least now he knew.

"Well isn't that nifty?" Riley said laughing.

"Sure is, anyway we got to get back now so we can start" said Luke.

You could just see Riley's eyes light up at that as he turned back from the mountain and pelted down the hill yelling "Race you back" at the top of his lungs. Now, although Riley was an amazing runner, even he with all his speed could not beat Luke back who was speeding through the undergrowth as if he were the wind.

As the two neared the den they were both staying in, the soon slowed down to a stop, Luke stopping outside the front entrance 10 seconds or so before Riley-turning to face him and smiling.

"One day, one day" Luke said as Riley came to a stop. "Maybe one day soon if you keep up the way you are"

"Yeah well, I try" Laughed Riley as they entered the den and sat down.

"Now Riley" said Luke sternly "The caribou you are going to hunt today can be dangerous; you need to watch out if they buck at you or try to get you with their horns"

"Mhmm, and if it tries to run I bite down on its neck as hard as I can?"

"Exactly" replied Luke. "Ok. Let's do this"

With that, the two left for the clearing.

* * *

As they approached the clearing, Riley and Luke could both see the caribou that were out grazing there, making their mouths water at the prospect of having fresh meat to eat for the next couple of meals. Although he was eager to finally take down his own caribou, Riley was still nervous about it but decided to push all thoughts of negativity away and focus on the task at hand.

As he edged his way out into the clearing, Riley quickly ran behind the cover of a rock being sure not to let any of the caribou see him.

"Remember: stay downwind and keep as low as you can to the ground" whispered Luke from the tree line and Riley nodded.

He turned back around and picked out a decent sized doe that wasn't near any of the other caribou and was downwind from him before heading towards it, belly on the ground, making no sound as he crept through the tall grass. As he neared it, he felt the adrenaline surge through him-giving him confidence and control. Edging closer and making sure not to tread on any sticks, he came up behind the unsuspecting doe before laying down in wait for the time to strike.

A couple minutes pass and Riley sees his opportunity-two male caribou were fighting amongst themselves, and the doe, seeing its own kind fighting grabbed it's attention as it turned away from Riley, who was crouching and his hind legs prepared to jump.

Then, with all his strength and determination, Riley leapt. He leapt up and onto the doe's back, startling it, before biting hard onto the artery in its neck. After feeling the blood touch his tongue, he let go and let the doe fall to the ground to bleed out.

"Well, that was a job well done if I don't say so myself" he said to himself before grabbing the now dead doe in his jaws and dragging it to Luke.

* * *

Back in the den, Luke and Riley were both sitting down in front of the beast before them.

"I still can't believe you got one this big" Luke said who watched the whole thing.

"Yeah me neither; I just waited for the perfect opportunity and I took it" Replied Riley.

"I'm definitely looking forward to this-but it's your kill. You eat first"

To this, Riley's eyes widened and a large grin grew on his face-he'd always had to wait for Luke to eat before he did because he was told the wolf that gets the kill eats first, although some packs say Alphas eat first before Omegas. He disagreed with that, because to him it was almost racism.

"Thanks" he said as he dug right in to his meal.

* * *

Not only thirty seconds later, only half a doe remained.

"Oh man, that was sooooo good" Riley said to Luke, who was staring in awe.

"I still can't understand how you could possibly not have indigestion right now-most wolves generally like to savour their first kill, but I guess whatever works for you" Luke said silently laughing as he went up to eat his share.

"Hey Luke, why is being a Delta supposed to be a secret in a pack?" asked Riley, bringing up a discussion that they had shared earlier in his training.

Luke looked up from his meal and licked the blood off of his lips before digressing. "In most packs, no-wolf but the Healer and pack leaders know what a Delta is and the reason they keep it that way is so they can maintain order in the pack. If word were to get out that there were higher-level wolves, most average wolves would immediately think that they are thought of as unworthy or low-level mutts. This can lead to riots among the pack, riots that can force a thriving pack to its knees and possibly breaking it apart. I've seen it happen before, and it's not a pretty sight."

"Wow! I can't believe such a trivial matter could end up splitting a whole pack apart! How do you know all of this, where you a Delta?" asked Riley.

"Well, technically yes I was a Delta. I was the healer of a small pack to the East. Wonderful pack, filled to the brim with many loving souls-but one day disaster struck. Our leader Tony's mate fell ill with an unheard of disease. Naturally, I was well-renowned as one of the best healers so he took her to me right away." Luke said before breaking off and looking into the distance.

"What happened next?" Riley said as he followed Luke's gaze trying to picture what he was looking at but eventually just have up and thought he was looking at the clouds.

Luke looked back at the doe and bit off a large portion of it before eating a bit and continued. "Well, I wasn't able to treat her. I did all I could, but later on that night after exhausting my supply of herbs and leaves she passed away." He paused as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "That was the only time I had ever failed. Normally, Tony was a kind-hearted and loving wolf, but that all changed. After hearing the news, he reacted violently by grabbing me by the scruff of my neck and throwing me to the wall and storming out of the den. Of course I was fine, but eventually I knew that someday his anger would end up doing something he would regret; he told some wolves that he specially trained a good-for-nothing Delta just so his mate could die." He paused again, unsure to continue.

Riley was getting more immersed into the story every second so he sat down and waited for Luke to collect his thoughts.

Luke looked to Riley, his eyes full of sadness. "You can only imagine what happened next" he said simply and Riley nodded his head.

_If this 'pack leader' Tony had told his pack that a wolf had special training and that he hated his guts because he held him responsible for the death of his mate, it would be like sentencing him to death. The pack would drive him out, trying to kill him_.

Luke's voice cut through Riley's train of thought and he looked up to see Luke standing by the den entrance and looking out.

"Of course I forgive him though." He said completely taking Riley by surprise.

"What!? Why? Why should you forgive a wolf who should have been taking care of you that practically sentenced you to death?" Riley voice rose as he stood up.

"Because, I know he regrets it. He was one of the most heart-warming and caring young wolves I knew. He was always bright and bubbly, never down in life. Just two weeks before her death, their only pup was born and I had the honour of delivering him myself. They both couldn't think of a name so I suggested they name him Garth and they both said they loved the name and stuck with it. I realise now that Grace's death would have impacted so deep in Tony's mind on two different levels. One being that his mate was gone forever, and two, his son wouldn't have a mother to care for him of love him when he grew up. All of that must have just made him go over the edge. Do you remember how I told you about how I used to be in a pack in Alaska that was attacked by the Revolution? Well, Tony and I were a part of that pack when it was attacked before we ran with the rest of the pack into Alberta to create a new pack. So we were great friends and I hope one day he can know that I forgive him." Finished Luke as he walked out of the den, leaving Riley to his thoughts.

* * *

**So there we have it! Another edited chapter or your viewing pleasure! Don't forget to leave a review because it really helps and the next chapter will be released soon!**

**As always, have a good one :)**


	5. Part One: World Adventurers (5)

**A/N**

**So here we go, the chapter you've all been waiting for. Enjoy, and review.**

* * *

**Part One**

**#5 World Adventurers, H and K**

* * *

**_1 Year Later_**

Atop probably the tallest mountain he could see, Riley was lying down underneath the shade of a large Willow tree; his favourite place to just sit down and relax, what with Luke's new intense training and all. Luke had him doing regular runs every day, one after dawn, one before sunset. These runs would normally span about 20km each, taking him about 30 minutes to complete. Whilst he was out on his morning run Luke would catch them both breakfast and when he got back they would eat together and chat about random things that neither of them even remembered much of the next day-but would it still leave a good feeling in the both of them.

This specific day, Luke was out on a trip to see some old friends that he would see regularly; friends he could trust. He always offered if Riley wanted to for him to go with him and meet then but Riley always declined, not wanted to really interact with any other wolves. Of course Luke would always tell him that one day he'll have to socialise with other wolves because he'd most likely end up becoming part of a pack.

This would lead on to another conversation; what rank Riley should be if he joined a pack.

**_Flashback_**

Luke looked to Riley and told him, "If you ever join a pack and you have the choice of rank, always choose to be an Omega."

"Why should I be an Omega when I could be an Alpha and help the pack provide food?" Riley asked-although after Luke's answers he soon begun to realise the logic behind his reasoning.

Of course being an Alpha had the privileges of being highly regarded and popular, but there was always a downfall. He would constantly have to do jobs like patrolling and hunting when although he was cut out for it, he really didn't want to be stuck doing that. Riley was an Omega at heart, both he and Luke know that, despite being good at almost all forms of physical activity.

"Because, I think that you would definitely be more suited to being an Omega rather than an Alpha or Beta." Luke said with a smile.

"Really? Even with all my physical skill?"

"Definitely. Being an Omega doesn't mean you have to be weak, you know if wolves can't be Alphas then they have to make up the physical strength for psychological strength" Replied Luke. "You see Riley, you're probably the smartest wolf I know-your intelligence is way above average and that's what an Omega needs to be. Omegas break up pack disputes with finesse and skill as quickly as possible so as to not allow any wolves to become seriously injured"

**_Flashback ends_**

Of course Riley understands this now, and is fully committed to becoming an Omega if he joins a pack.

He let out a sigh, realising he should probably go for a run to pass some of the time whilst Luke was gone.

_Where should I run to today? I feel like swimming after a run though so what about the falls down south? No, I only just went there yesterday and it didn't look very nice; the water was all muddy and brown. What about the lake over to the west? Nope, alligators are migrating through there at the moment and I don't fancy getting eaten. Aha! I know the perfect spot! Sawtooth national wilderness! I haven't been by that place in ages! It's only 30-odd kilometres always so it should be a breeze, and the river there has some really nice and clear water too-perfect for a nice relaxing swim._

So it was decided, Riley got up from his position under the willow and looked to the east, sniffing the air and catching the faint smell of the forest along with other miscellaneous scents. With one final in-take of mountain air Riley ran down the path and flew into the forest, eager to reach his destination.

* * *

A young silver-grey wolf opened his sleepy eyes to find himself inside a dark confined space that seemed to be bumping around a lot. Whatever it was suddenly hit hard and he was thrown into the side of the enclosed space, making him hit his head in the process.

"Ow..." He moaned as he finally came to his senses and awaking fully to realise the situation he was in.

"Humphrey? Is that you?" Came a voice outside of the container.

"Oh Kate! Thank goodness! I think we were captured by hunters, we seem to have been locked up by them." Replied Humphrey.

"Yeah, but now we just have to *crash* get out *crash* of here" Kate yelled as she rocked the container from side to side.

"Woah Kate, hold up-let's not get ourselves killed now eh?" Said Humphrey quickly.

"What do you propose we do then?" Asked Kate frantically.

"Since the humans shot us both with a tranquilizer and not bullets, I'd say that they aren't going to kill is or do any harm to us. They are probably just...I don't know-relocating us or something" Humphrey replied "So I suggest that we just sit tight and wait, as soon as the containers open we make a run for it"

"Ok" Kate agreed as whatever was moving the two of them stopped and they heard the humans talking.

All of a sudden, they heard the sound of metal on metal and a bright array of sunlight hit their eyes, stunning them momentarily before they quickly gathered their wits about them and shot out of the dark containers and into the forest, not taking care about anything but running as far away as they could.

* * *

After what seemed like ages of running, Humphrey and Kate came to a stop at the top of a small hill overlooking a small clearing, a rocky cliff between them and the ground.

"Come on Kate, let's go down there and have a look around" said Humphrey, turning to head back but Kate stopped him.

"Here Humphrey, it's barely 5 metres high we can easily jump it" said Kate and Humphrey walked up to the edge where he could see down the cliff face.

_There's no way I'll be able to jump this..._

"I don't doubt that you could jump this Kate, but I can't so I'll just walk around" Humphrey said as he shook his head.

"What? Of course you can jump this! You don't need Alpha training to be good at jumping" argued Kate "Come on just trust me on this"

"Ok Kate. I trust you." he said, putting his full trust in her.

"Just follow me" she smiled as she jumped off and performed a neat flip before landing on all fours.

Humphrey wasted no time in jumping as well; although not performing a lovely acrobatic flip, he landed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Oof" Humphrey managed as he landed, although unfortunately for him he landed awkwardly and his right front paw twisted which made him cry out in pain. "OW!"

"Oh Humphrey are you ok?" Kate asked as she rushed over to him.

"Yeah it's ok Kate, I'll be fine-AH" Humphrey was cut off abruptly when he tried to walk on his paw, thus making him yelp in pain.

"Dammit Humphrey, this is my fault. I never should have pressured you into trying to jump" Kate said apologetically as she started to tear up slightly.

"Hey now don't cry" Humphrey said as he limped into the clearing. "It wasn't your fault, I'm the one who jumped and sucked at landing" Humphrey smiled and Kate giggled.

"Oh shut up" Kate laughed as she followed him into the clearing.

* * *

It was about midday; Luke had left to see his friends in the morning and Riley was just reaching Sawtooth Park.

"Man, this place just keeps getting better and better each time I come here doesn't it?" Riley said to himself as he noticed a strange scent in the air. His eyes scanned the clearing and he could see a silver-grey wolf laying down in the clearing and his eyes widened. "Oh crap, I'd better leave-" He said to himself before he was cut off and he was tackled to the ground, his front legs pinned to his sides and lying flat on his stomach, the attacker on his back applying pressure to a claw on his neck.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" Came a female voice from above him.

At first, Riley was shocked about seeing another wolf but he quickly sprang into action; twisting his neck around moving the claw away from his vital area before springing up catching the attacker off-guard and countered, pinning the wolf to the ground and placing him at a vantage point. He looked down at the wolf, who was a tan female wolf with Amber eyes but before he could ask her why she attacked him he felt a large force in his side sending him a couple of metres away and onto the ground.

He looked up to see the silver-grey wolf standing over the tan wolf snarling, before it whimpered in pain and fell over, holding its paw and clutching it's stomach in a foetal position.

"Humphrey! Are you ok?" Asked the tan wolf.

"I'm fine Kate, I should be asking you if you're alright" the wolf called Humphrey replied.

"Yeah I'm fine...but who the HELL ARE YOU!" Kate yelled at Riley.

"What!? You jumped on me!" Riley countered and she was taken aback; she did jump on him first.

"Well...sorry about that, I was just a little edgy and I thought you might try to attack us" she apologized. "I'm Kate by the way, and this is Humphrey" she added before pointing to the silver-grey wolf.

"No it's ok-I understand. I'm Riley, nice to meet you, but is he ok?" Riley asked referring to the now incapacited Humphrey who was clutching his chest in agony. Kate looked behind her and saw Humphrey writhing on the ground and ran over to him.

"Oh God-he's bleeding! Humphrey what's wrong?" Kate asked and Humphrey looked up to her.

"I think I might have done a little more damage than first thought when I jumped down that cliff face" he laughed weakly before coughing up blood. "Yeah-I might have broken something"

"Is something wrong with him?" Riley asked as he strode up to then both.

"Yes...he might have broken something in his chest when he jumped down a cliff and it might have done something worse when he rammed you off of me" Kate said teary-eyed.

"Let me take a look-I'm a healer after all" Riley replied smiling as he stood over Humphrey. He leant down and felt with his paws on his chest. He moved them around for a bit until he felt a sharp protrusion where one of his ribs were and Humphrey whimpered slightly when he applied pressure.

"That's not good...one of his ribs are broken and he must have dislocated the shards when he rammed me. So we're going to have to re-align them" Riley sighed remembering Luke's training.

Kate gasped and whispered to Riley "My mother was the healer of our pack before she became a pack leader along with my father, and she told me that this sort of injury can be very painful to fix"

Riley whispered back "I know, but I don't have time to fetch some herbs and plants to make up a painkiller because if we don't fix this soon the damage could become permanent but I'm sure you know that"

"Yeah..." She sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with" she said as she turned to Humphrey.

Humphrey ears perked up at that and asked "Get over with what?"

"Sorry about this Humphrey, we only just met, so I hope this doesn't leave a bad impression" said Riley as he placed his paws over Humphrey's broken rib. Humphrey's eyes widened in shock as he realised what Riley was about to do and tried to get up but when he turned he was faced with Kate.

"Sorry Humphrey, but if we don't get this done now the damage could become permanent" Kate sighed regretfully seeing as she was about to witness her best friend in immense pain.

"WHAT!? N-no at l-least give me some...p-painkillers f-first!" he whimpered as he scrambled frantically in an attempt to get away from Riley but Kate held him down. "K-Kate help me out h-here!" He stuttered fearfully.

"Sorry Humph, this is for the best" she replied. "Don't worry though-I'm right here, remember when you hurt yourself log-boarding and we had to fix you up? You just got to think happy thoughts and it will all be over soon" Kate smiled.

"No no no no no no please come on guys! I-I'm fine! I don't n-need anything fixed!" Humphrey stuttered weakly and tried his best to smile.

"This isn't going anywhere" Kate sighed.

"Yes! Y-You're completely right!" Humphrey said frantically trying to move away in an attempt to get Riley's paws away from his rib.

"-But I never said that we would stop" Kate said as she held him down. "Do it now"

Riley moved his paws to Humphrey's rib and Humphrey's eyes widened in horror before he applied pressure and sickening wet grinding sound could be heard. Humphrey cried out in agony before a loud *CRACK* and the two shards of bone reconnected.

Kate let go of the pent-up breath she had in her as Riley removed his paws from Humphrey's now-comatose body; he'd passed out from the pain.

"Well, I'm glad I'm not in his position" said Riley who was sweating from the tension. "I'd probably do the exact same thing" he added knowing there was hardly a wolf out there that could endure that kind of pain and not pass out.

"Great. We have to get back home as soon as possible! Now with Humphrey out and all I don't know if we can make it back on time!" Kate said frustrated.

"What do you mean? Do you not live here? Isn't this your territory?" Riley questioned confused.

"No, no, no" Kate shook her head. "We're from a place called Jasper Park, we were relocated here by humans for reasons we are unclear of so far"

Although both Kate and Humphrey didn't know, Riley had a fair idea why they were relocated judging by what Luke had told him, but he thought he'd save the embarrassment and just let out a silent chuckle.

"You say you're from Jasper Park? I've been up by there before, until we moved down here." Riley said.

"Who's we?" Kate asked.

"Just my mentor Luke and I-my parents and brother died when I was only a week old and he took me in" Riley replied.

"Wow that's so sad...I'm sorry to hear that" Kate said sympathetically.

"It's ok, I got over it a long time ago. Anyway-there's a den around here somewhere that we can bring Humphrey to whilst I gather some things to make a painkiller." Said Riley before motioning to Humphrey "You want me to carry him or are you alright?"

"Nah I'm fine-I'm an Alpha I can take him" Kate said as she put Humphrey on her back and followed Riley who was heading towards the den.

"Don't you mean Delta?" Riley smiled remembering that she was the daughter of a pack leader.

Kate looked taken aback before smiling "Well someone knows their stuff"

"Luke told me all about ranks and how packs work-he's also trained me on everything too, I'm almost done with my training." Riley replied.

"Wow, I've never met any wolf before that has any training above Delta stage" Kate said.

"Yeah, he said that usually the only wolves that have training of this calibre are wolves that teach themselves or lone wolves" Riley replied.

They soon came upon the den and when they walked inside Kate put Humphrey down before Riley remembered what she had said before.

"Hey Kate, you said you were lost here right? And that you don't know how to get home?"

"Yeah...and if I don't get back soon there'll be a war." She sighed.

"What? Why!?" Riley asked.

"Well, there's my pack; the Western Pack and another pack on our border known as the Eastern Pack. In the east, they've had all the caribou migrate out of their territory so they are left having to try to hunt in our territory" Kate paused as if she lost her train of thought but quickly continued again "And so, the East leader, Tony, threatened war if we didn't unite the packs"

"But what's this got to do with you getting back?" Riley asked wondering how she was involved in all of this.

"Well, my father Winston agreed with Tony to unite the packs through the marriage of Garth who is Tony's son, and me" Kate said.

_Hmmm, Tony and Garth; now why does that sound familiar?_ Riley thought to himself.

"Huh? I thought you and Humphrey were mates by the way you two act around each other" Riley said.

Kate blushed visibly through her fur before replying "No, we're just friends...besides-we're not allowed to be mates" she sighed.

"Huh? How-come?" Riley questioned confused.

"Well, there's a law in our pack; Alphas and Omegas can't be mates. I know it's a stupid law too I don't see the point in it" she said.

"Well, do you even want to marry this Garth?" Riley asked.

"Actually now that you mention it...I hardly know the wolf..I don't even know anything about him!" Kate eyes then widened when a realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. "Oh my God! I've been so blinded by responsibility that I didn't even know what I've gotten myself into! I'm not in love with Garth...I'm in love with..." She then trailed off as her face turned bright red again.

"Who?" Riley asked.

"I'm...in-love...with Humphrey!" She said as she turned to see him lying on the ground. Her face then turned to a very happy expression before it changing into a one of disappointment and anguish. "But...we can never be mates" she said again and a tear came down her face.

"Who said? Who cares about the stupid law! You should fight with your life for something you believe in! You say you're the pack leader's daughter-use your status! Abolish the law! Be happy!" Riley raised his voice enthusiastically.

Kate's face lit up again realising the power she had "You're RIGHT! I can do this! The only problem is convincing Tony; he's an old wolf that likes to stick to tradition, he might not like the idea of an Alpha and an Omega being mates..."

"Hey Kate-you're a smart wolf, you'll figure something out" Riley encouraged. "All that's left is finding out how to get you home."

"Yes that is a difficulty one..."

"Hey hold on a second-I know! There's a train that goes through here called the 'Canadian Express' and it goes past Jasper Park!"

"Great! Where is it?" Kate asked.

"That's the thing-I don't know where the tracks are in this part of the country..." Riley trailed off sadly before an idea hit him. "Actually, we could ask around the locals here and see if any of them know where the tracks are? How about that?"

"Yeah! That's a good idea, although it's gotten too late to ask anyone now; they'd just get angry at us and might attack us so we'll do it in the morning. Thank you so much Riley" she said as she hugged him tightly.

"Hey, it's ok. Not allowing different ranks to be mates is just like discrimination and it shouldn't be tolerated, besides I'm glad to help" Riley said as he returned the hug. "Humphrey's going to wake up any moment now so I'd better go out and get a painkiller together. You should rest so go and lay down by Humphrey for when he wakes up" he replied before he left the den.

Kate then padded over to Humphrey's side and laid down next to him for a bit thinking about how she was going to tell Humphrey about her feelings.

_How should I go about this? How is he going to react?_ She thought to herself.

A groan could be heard and Kate's face lit up when she turned to see Humphrey stirring.

"Humphrey! Are you ok?" She asked as he yawned.

"Uuuuuuuuuuh" he groaned, "Ow, that really hurt"

"Well, Riley has just gone to get some plants and herbs to make up a painkiller for you so I stayed here to look after you" Kate smiled.

"Oh good...because I'll definitely need them; my chest feels like it's on fire!" He groaned in reply.

"Hey Humphrey...I've been keeping something from you that I should have told you about earlier..." Kate said nervously.

"Huh?" Humphrey groaned.

"Well...you remember Garth right?" Kate asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah...that Barf guy with a dud howl?" Humphrey said as he yawned.

"Yeah...well he's an Eastern wolf, he's the son of Tony. Basically, Tony threatened war if we didn't unite the packs through marriage; the marriage of Garth and I" Kate said and Humphrey's eyes widened with shock.

"You're getting married!?" Humphrey managed before he erupted in a coughing fit.

"Was, I _was _getting married-not anymore." Kate said as she looked out the den entrance, noticing that it had started to rain.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I'm going to call off the marriage as soon as we get back." She said.

"Why would you do that? Wouldn't that mean war?" Humphrey asked.

"Not if we can find a diplomatic solution to all this. Besides, I can't marry him. I'm in love with someone else" Kate said as she prepared to tell him her feelings.

"What? Who? Some other Alpha wolf you met during Alpha school or something?" Humphrey asked as he rolled his eyes.

Kate giggled when she saw this,_ you're gonna get a shock, Humph._

"Oh no, this wolf I've known for much longer than Alpha school. I met him when I was about a month old." She hinted.

Humphrey thought about this, wondering who else knew Kate about the same time as him. He counted all the wolves it could be but eventually gave up.

"Let me guess...he's got great big muscles and is real strong" Humphrey said emphasizing the word 'strong'.

"No, but you're close. He has muscles but you can't see them easily; and he's much stronger than he looks" Kate giggled.

"I've got no idea. Just tell me" Humphrey said and Kate laughed.

"Well-this wolf was captured with me and brought here to Sawtooth National Wilderness" Kate replied coolly.

Humphrey's eyes widened as he comprehended what Kate just told him. A blush then formed on his cheeks.

"B-b-but that m-means..."

"Yep"

"B-but...you...Alpha...and...I can't..." Humphrey stuttered jumbled words and Kate giggled at his reaction.

"So?"

"You c-can't..." Humphrey said as he tried to regain his composure, but he couldn't get rid if the ever-growing blush or smile that was creeping on his face.

Kate then leant in and kissed him, Humphrey making a small squeaking noise as she did, before he closed his eyes and kissed her back. After a while they eventually broke apart breathing heavily and staring into each other's eyes.

Humphrey then broke the silence and said "Kate, when I met you, I fell in love with you and your beautiful personality; you are one of the nicest and caring wolves I know, and you're the best friend I've ever had. When I found out that we couldn't be together, I was shattered; but I still loved you with all my heart, and I always will."

Kate's eyes watered when she heard this and she said "Humphrey, that's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard, and it's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me" she then hugged him tightly "I love you too."

They laid there for a while in each other's embrace, listening to the sound of the rain outside. Humphrey was ignoring the pain in his chest that the embrace made, as he didn't want to disturb the moment. Humphrey then used his paw to brush Kate's fur to one side of her forehead and she looked up to him, smiling.

"Kate, what are we gonna do about the pack back home? They'll never accept this...it's against pack law." Humphrey said softly.

"It's ok, we'll figure something out" Kate said smiling.

At that moment Riley walked in, soaking wet, with various plant leaves and herbs on a piece of bark.

He looked at the couple before saying "Don't mind me-I'm just going to make you a painkiller Humphrey that should last about 12 hours. I'll give you a dose now, then a dose in the morning." Riley said as he mixed several of the leaves and herbs together.

"Thankyou Riley so much for all that you've done" said Humphrey.

"No problem." Riley replied as he brought the bark slate with the mixed plants and herbs on it over to the den entrance, where he allowed several drops of water to mix with the compound. After gaining a sufficient amount of water, he brought it back into the den before mixing the water with the company and making it a slightly stick substance. "Ok Humphrey here-I want you to lick up only half of this mixture" said Riley as he brought the bark slate over to him. Humphrey turned his head to lick it up but it was slightly difficult seeing as Kate had fallen asleep on top of him. After licking half the substance up, Humphrey closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep listening to the rain.

"Goodnight bro" he said as he felt himself drift slowly to sleep.

"G'night" Riley smiled at the two as he laid down on the floor across the den.

_I hope Luke isn't too worried about me, I doubt he would be what with my training level and all _Riley thought to himself as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N**

**If you enjoyed this chapter be sure to leave a review and don't forget to follow/favourite the story ;) Cheers guys and as always have a good one :)**


	6. Part One: The Unusual Duo (6)

**Chapter 6: Part One: The Unusual Duo (6)**

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**A/N**

**Notice: I obviously do not own **_**Alpha and Omega**_**, or the A&amp;O characters/plot (they each belong to their respective owners; Crest Animation studios, Lionsgate etc.) however I do own all my original characters, plots, ideas and opinions. If you wish to use anything I have used in my stories, please PM me and ask for explicit permission. Other than that, enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

**Part One**

**#6 The Unusual Duo**

* * *

Riley let out a yawn as he stretched his muscles and looked outside at the early morning sun. It was morning

_Mhmm, I love the rain. I always get a peaceful night's sleep_.

He then looked over to Humphrey and Kate who were still asleep and saw Kate snuggled into him. He silently chuckled to himself before walking outside and takin a deep breath of morning air, allowing the crisp oxygen to revitalize him.

He thought he should probably go and get some breakfast for them all because both Kate and Humphrey would be starving having been captured by Humans. He then jogged across the clearing and saw the river on the other side and it was higher than usual due to all the rain they had last night. _It'd probably be a good idea to have a nice refreshing morning swim before I get all hot and bothered chasing caribou._

So Riley jogged over to the river, then satisfied with its appearance, jumped in. The cold water was very refreshing for Riley's fur as it was slightly matted from the sweat of running all the way to Sawtooth. He swam around for a while doing some laps before eventually getting out and shaking himself off. _Humphrey and Kate should probably be awake right now, so I should hurry up and find some breakfast_.

As Riley was walking through the forest he saw a meadow off to the side. He decided to take a closer look and lo behold there was a herd of caribou, grazing, unaware of the danger that was now entering the area. Riley smiled to himself. _Nice._

* * *

Humphrey opened his eyes to see Kate snuggled into his fur and he blushed with a grin on his face. He reached down with his paw and gently stroked the side of her head, making Kate smile and rub her head against his paw before taking a deep breath and settling down again.

He looked outside at the shining sun, it looked about mid-morning with a beautiful blue sky with a few white clouds in it, making it seem as if it never rained last night. He then looked over to where Riley was sleeping but Riley wasn't there so Humphrey just figured that he'd gotten up and probably went for a run or went to get breakfast. Unfortunately Humphrey was beginning to feel a dull pain in his chest. The painkiller was wearing off. Humphrey frowned at the pain as he shrugged it off, cracking his stiff neck from the position he slept in last night._ I'd better ask Riley to give me some more of that painkiller when he gets back_ Humphrey thought.

Kate began to stir as Humphrey moved around a bit. Sleepily she opened her eyes and saw him before she licked his cheek and hugged him.

"Morning handsome" she smiled.

"Morning beautiful" Humphrey smiled back as he kissed her and licked her cheek playfully. "Sleep well?"

"Yes thanks to you" she giggled.

They both laid there for a couple of moments before they got up and stretched, seeing as it was mid-morning already.

"Good to see you two sleepy-heads up" Riley said through muffled jaws as he dragged a leg of a caribou inside. He then sat down with it and began to eat. "By the way, breakfast is outside so feel free to grab as much as you need" He added before concentrating on his meal.

"Thanks" They both chorused as they headed outside but before they could grab anything to eat Humphrey cried out in pain.

"What is it?" Riley said as he came out of the den to see Humphrey holding his paw.

"I sprained my paw when I fell, I can hardly walk on it" Humphrey replied wincing slightly.

"Oh-good! I have just the thing that'll fix that" Riley smiled.

"What? There's no medicine but rest for sprains I thought" said Kate.

"Aha-that's where you're wrong. My mentor was very smart-he developed a technique that gets rid of sprains. Come inside and I'll show you." Riley said before walking back inside, Kate helping Humphrey limp behind him.

"Okay, could you please extend your paw out in front of you?" Riley asked and Humphrey did as he was told, placing his paw out in front of him wincing slightly as he straightened it out. "Okay, now this might hurt a little, but no-where near as much pain as it was yesterday." Riley said before placing his paws on Humphrey's paw. Then, he started to press select areas around Humphrey's wrist, making him grit his teeth, before he relaxed and smiled.

"Wow, you really have a knack for this you know! I hardly feel anything now-how does it work?" Humphrey asked laughing as it was beginning to tickle.

"Well, a sprain is basically just where you've pulled a muscle, so all I'm doing is massaging special points in your wrist to relieve the sprain and sooth the muscle" Riley said before seeing that he was done, and removed his paws from Humphrey's.

"Woah...that is so cool!" Humphrey said astounded.

"Of course, there's my mentor who invented it-he's a healer as well and he's very skilled. His name is Luke by the way, I didn't realise I hadn't told you yet Humphrey because I told Kate yesterday. Maybe you guys can drop in some time to visit!" Riley smiled.

"Yeah I don't see why we couldn't do that, we'd love to!" Humphrey smiled as he looked to Kate, who nodded in agreement.

They all then sat and ate their meal in silence; it had been a while since Humphrey and Kate had eaten fresh meat.

After they all finished their meal, Riley got up again and looked outside. "We should probably take a look around and try and find some locals so we can ask them where the tracks are" He said and Humphrey and Kate nodded. "Although you should probably have the rest of this first Humphrey" he added handing the bark slate with the painkiller on it to Humphrey, who accepted it gladly.

"Thanks" he said.

They then all walked outside, taking a quick look around to see if anyone was in sight, but sadly they weren't. Riley suggested that they look up by the clearing and they both agreed saying it looked like an area where others might be.

As they neared the clearing, a faint cracking noise could be heard every few seconds, making them all curious as to what it could be.

"What do you reckon that is?" Riley asked.

"No idea-but let's check it out" Kate replied.

They then picked up the pace and came upon the hill that overlooked the clearing, and saw two birds that seemed to be holding something.

"Shhh" Whispered Riley as they all sank into the grass.

"What are they doing?" Humphrey asked as he lifted his head up.

Big mistake.

The next second, a small rock came flying towards them and Kate pulled Humphrey down again before the rock whizzed right by where Humphrey's head was only seconds ago.

"Woah" he muttered in surprise, looking up to where the rock had passed by.

"Come on. They might know where the tracks are so we need to ask them" Kate whispered as she got up, Riley and Humphrey following suit.

After reaching the clearing, the trio soon came upon the birds, who were chatting furiously and didn't seem to notice their presence.

"As I was saying, there is no need for you to make silly excuses." The Yellow one said in an English accent. "Everyone must play with the obstacles, whether it be the wind, or a woodpecker"

"I know that Paddy, but it was unfair" complained the larger one.

"Still you mustn't complain, there's a-" the yellow one's face turned white like a ghost when he saw the three wolves behind his companion. "T-TAKE OFF"  
he said quickly and he flew up.

"Paddy? What is the matter with you-" but the larger one stopped as he saw the three shadows approach from behind. He slowly turned his head to see three wolves smiling at him. "Oh...hehe...h-hello! I have not seen many wolves around h-here! But that is not a problem! No! I like wolves!" The goose smiled awkwardly.

"Good-because we just want to ask a few questions" Humphrey smiled warmly.

"I see..." The goose rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "QUICK! Look behind you!" He said pointing behind them. Unfortunately, cognitive as they all were, Riley, Humphrey and Kate all couldn't resist turning their heads to the right.

"A-HA!" The goose laughed as he hit Humphrey on the head with the stick he was holding and took-off. Unfortunately for the would-be escapee goose, Riley quickly grabbed him by the leg and brought him to the ground.

"Not so fast buddy" Riley smiled as he put the goose on the ground.

"Fine...you said you wanted to ask us something?" The goose said as the yellow duck flew back down to the ground.

"Yes...we need to know where the Canadian Express tracks run through this country" Riley asked.

"Oh? Yes! That is easy! Come with me!" He said as he walked off with the yellow duck, motioning for them to follow. They agreed, and soon went along with them.

* * *

Soon they were standing outside of a small human-made cabin, and the goose was pointing to a large thing that seemed to be stuck on to the side.

Seeing the confused faces of the wolves around him, the goose pointed to the strange thing. "That is what is called a 'map'. It is made by humans who have 'scouted' this area and includes several things that are useful to them on it, including train tracks."

He stopped to see if they had all understood, which they did, then continued. "This is where we are" he pointed to a large 'YOU ARE HERE' on the map. "This is where the train tracks are" he added, pointing to a pair of grey lines on the map.

Riley then used his brain, quickly perceiving the information that was given. "Therefore, the tracks must be this way" he said as he pointed towards the west with a smile on his face.

"Haha! We did it! Thank you sooooo much! And whom are we thanking?" Asked Kate happily.

The goose smiled at this before replying "Anytime my dear, I am Marcel, and this is Paddy" he said pointing to the yellow duck.

"Hello" Paddy said cheerfully in his posh accent.

"We couldn't have found them without your help, so thanks a heap" Humphrey smiled.

"Hey, you did not eat me so I owed you a favour! I am glad to have been of service to you! And who is you by the way?" Marcel then asked.

"Oh, yes, I'm Kate and this is Humphrey and Riley" Kate said joyfully as both Humphrey and Riley said hello.

"So where are you from? I take it you need the train to get somewhere? Home perhaps?" Asked Marcel.

"Actually, Humphrey and I are from Jasper Park, but we were relocated for reasons we still don't know." Kate said.

"Oh! Jasper Park! We LOVE Jasper park! We toured it many times and it is such a wonderful place! As for your relocation, I think I might know why you were relocated here" Marcel said.

"Really? Why?" Humphrey spoke up.

"Well if you take a look around, you'll there are not many wolves here"

"So?"

"So...my guess is that you were brought here to re-populate the park" he smiled slyly as he raised a brow.

Riley could swear that both Humphrey and Kate blushed at the same moment before looking at each other and blushing even harder.

"Hey, a park's not complete without a few wolves" Riley laughed, earning himself a punch from Kate, who ended up laughing with him. Soon Humphrey joined in as well.

"Hey Marcel?" Humphrey asked when he stopped laughing.

"Yes?"

"Would you perhaps be able show us the way home?"

"But of course! We haven't been to Jasper in a long time! And, you didn't eat us too so of course I will help!" Marcel smiled.

"Thanks again guys" Kate smiled back.

* * *

As the group of unlikely friends made their way towards the train tracks, a swift cloak of darkness covered them; releasing the stars from their prisons of light. They had been walking all day, Paddy and Marcel flying from above. Humphrey cracking jokes and making everyone laugh. Kate telling fun stories about their lives growing up. Riley using his extensive knowledge to tell them all about their surroundings.

They didn't want it to end, but alas they had reached a point of dismissal; the train tracks were viewable from the distance.

"Here we are!" Called Marcel from above.

As they walked up to the tracks, they realised another aspect that they were completely missing: the train.

As Marcel and Paddy landed on a nearby tree, Kate, Humphrey and Riley all laid down under another tree that was by the tracks.

"Now we just have to wait for a train" Riley said sadly. "I suppose this is goodbye"

"What? Pfft are you kidding? This ain't goodbye yet!" Humphrey laughed playfully punching Riley's shoulder.

"Yeah I guess, but it will be soon..." Riley trailed off.

Riley hadn't had any friends before; Humphrey and Kate were his only friends. He didn't know how else to put it, it was hard to explain, but when he was with them he felt happy and in the right place, as if it were where he should be. He couldn't help but feel sad that this may be the last time he saw them.

Humphrey noticed his sadness, and was quick to change the subject. "Hey, look! It's a full moon tonight!" He said enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah it is too! It's so beautiful..." Kate trailed off in awe.

"Yeah, but not as beautiful as you" Humphrey smiled slyly.

"Oh you..." Kate laughed as she playfully punched him.

"Get a room" Riley laughed making the couple laugh as well.

"Too bad for you, there isn't one here" Kate smiled as she kissed Humphrey, making both Humphrey and Riley blush.

"Sorry to break up the moment, but the train is nearly here" Marcel called from across the way.

"Now it's goodbye..." Riley said sadly. "Great. Now I'm depressed."

"Hey cheer up bro! Just remember what you've done for us! Thanks to you, I'm probably the happiest wolf there could be! And without you, I could have died if you hadn't treated my wounds...however painful they were..." Humphrey said as he hugged Riley, who accepted the gesture and hugged him back. He was going to miss them both very much.

As Humphrey released Riley from their embrace Kate walked up to him and hugged him as well. She then leant in and whispered "thankyou for everything, without you Humphrey and I could never have been happy". She then let him go and have him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush terribly through his fur.

"Stay safe, don't get yourself hurt or anything" she said as they both walked up to the train track; the train rushing towards them.

"Good luck, I hope you can resolve everything" Riley called out to them.

"Will do" they both replied, looking to Paddy and Marcel who had now taken flight.

"Ok so how do we do this?" Humphrey asked.

"As soon as you see an open carriage, jump into it with correct timing and you should be able to make it" Marcel said.

"Okay, but if I die I blame you" Humphrey laughed weakly before Kate turned to look at him.

"Hey, don't worry about it, you can do it." She said as she kissed him again.

"I know sweetie, I'm just worried about you" He replied.

"Tsk, I'll be fine" she laughed.

The train was now going past; it was now or never. Humphrey and Kate then began to run along with it and Riley watched as they left. Then as an opening went by, he saw them both jump, and then land safely inside the carriage with Kate having to pull Humphrey's sorry ass into it seeing as he hit is rib on the way in.

Riley chuckled silently to himself before he realised he was alone.

"I guess I should head back home now" Riley said out loud as he admired the full moon. He slowly trotted past the clearing and the river coming up to the den that he, Humphrey and Kate had stayed in.

He looked at it but looked back at the moon.

"Tonight's too beautiful to just let it go to waste" he said to himself as he walked by the den.

He'd decided to run home, basking in the light of the moon instead of resting like any normal wolf would. But Riley wasn't a normal wolf. He didn't just let opportunities like this slide; he enjoyed the little things for it was the little things that are so enjoyable and pleasant.

He then took off, his dark-grey pelt shining in the moonlight and blue-purple eyes glistening like the stars above him.

_If I run fast enough, maybe I can make it home before...nothing. Oh well._

* * *

**A/N**

**So there we go, another chapter up and I want to thank you all for you considerable support! It is a big help and gets these chapters out quicker so be sure to leave a review as well as follow/favourite the story! Have a good one!**


	7. Part One: Decadence (7)

**A/N**

**I felt that I waited to post this chapter for long enough :) Please R&amp;R.**

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**Part One**

**#7 Decadence**

* * *

After about half an hour of jogging lightly Riley soon came upon his and Luke's den at about midnight. He was panting slightly but that was mainly because he was nervous at how Luke was going to react.

He slowly approached the entrance and walked inside. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see Luke's still form on the other side of the den, sleeping.

He then let out a sigh of relief as he padded over to one side of the wall and laid down. Unfortunately his relief was short lived when a voice cut out through the darkness.

"And where have you been?"

Riley's body then went still as he laughed nervously. "Uh-hehe-you see I just went for a jog up t-to sawtooth when you left to see your friends and, uh, sort if got side-tracked." Riley smiled weakly.

"Well...it better have been for a good reason because you just missed two perfectly good days of training." Luke replied with grimly, raising an eyebrow.

"Well as I said before I went for a jog, but when I got there I was tackled by a random wolf so then I flipped us and pinned the wolf back, who I found was to be female. Then I was hit off her by another wolf who ended up getting his already broken rib dislocated." Riley replied.

"Did you have to use force?" Luke asked.

"Thankfully no as it was just a mis-understanding although the wolf that had rammed me was in critical condition so I had to intervene and re-locate his rib...without any painkillers."

"Well, that would have been painful. Did he survive?"

"Yes and we became good friends! I'll tell you about them. Okay so the one who rammed me his name was Humphrey and he has a silver-grey pelt then there's Kate, the one who tackled me the first time and she's got a tan-brown pelt. They were both relocated from a place called Jasper Park" Riley replied.

"Ah I see...well that's really good that you finally socialized and made some good friends!" Luke smiled happily and Riley beamed with pride. "But... now you've got to make up for lost time; we _were_ starting some high level medical combat skills about two days ago. So up you get, no time to rest! We'll start now!" Luke grinned and Riley's pride turned to horror.

"Dammit..." Riley sighed as he slowly rose up.

* * *

The train was swiftly moving along the cloak of darkness, aiding it's passengers in their goal to get home.

Humphrey, whom was laying down in the carriage, gently sighed at Kate's beauty while she slept. The moonlight that she was basking in didn't help either. He couldn't get to sleep because he had so much on his mind, what with everything that had happened and all. He hit is rib on the way in, which hurt, so she had to pull him in all the way. Which also hurt, but nonetheless he dealt with the pain.

As he looked over to the moon, he noticed how bright it was tonight; a full moon. It was much closer than usual, making it look absolutely stunning as it lit up the earth with it's fluorescent rays.

He heard a sound behind him; Kate was stirring. She moaned silently as her eyes slowly opened. Then she got up and stretched her legs and turned to Humphrey.

"That was a good power nap" she smiled. "Were you awake that whole time?" She questioned him.

"Yeah...I couldn't get to sleep. I've got so much on my mind; how the pack is going to react, what your family will think. Also about Riley too, he said that we were the only wolves he'd met before other than his mentor. He must have been so lonely, not having anyone his age to play with or be around to hang out with." He replied.

"The poor guy, I hope we see him again soon, we became quite good friends. I suppose it was the fact that he didn't have any friends that made us all bond together quickly." She said as she leant her head on his shoulder.

"Kate...when we get back...what if Eve doesn't agree and tries to kill me?"

"Then I won't let her get anywhere near you" she replied giving him a kiss which he returned.

"Well what if the pack doesn't agree and try to split us up?" He questioned.

"Then we'll leave. It's as simple as that." She said. "Although I doubt that would happen, seeing as it's a stupid law anyway and I'm sure there are many flirtatious Alphas and Omegas alike that probably wouldn't mind getting their horizons expanded."

"I see your point. I guess we should just hope for the best." He said as he kissed her cheek.

"Well you should probably get some rest then; you'll need your strength. After all, you might need it to run away from my mother."

* * *

Riley stood in the moonlit clearing, Luke in front if him. After making Riley do several laps for being "late to class", Luke believed Riley was ready to receive his final area of training, an area of which Luke had also developed himself, which was medical combat.

Luke began to pace the ground in front of Riley, looking up and down as if evaluating him for a test. Then he spoke.

"Riley. This is incredibly dangerous training, not for you, but for others. Before we start, I need your sworn oath that you will not abuse this training; that you will only use this knowledge in times of great need to either save yourself or others."

Riley then place his paws in front if him, and bowed to Luke. "I solemnly swear that I will not abuse any training you give me for the purpose of either myself or others, but instead use it to help myself and others only in times of great need" He said, speaking the complete and utter truth.

"Good. In that case, you will need to know the powers you will hold to the full extent, meaning you must first embrace it to respect it fully."

"I understand" Riley replied as he lifted his head.

"Then prepare yourself, I will strike and you will attempt to block-although you will fail" Luke added the last part smiling.

"I'm ready" Riley said as he breathed in and out, slowing down his body and becoming calm.

Then, without hesitation, Luke struck. He darted forward with the speed of an eagle, and with one paw jabbed forward in a selective spot between Riley's collarbone.

He had no time to react. It was over in a few seconds, and Riley was on the ground, unconscious.

Luke then laughed to himself.

"I haven't been able to do that in a while, it feels rather entertaining" he smiled. "I suppose I'd better revive him..." He then muttered to himself.

* * *

Riley was blinking hard to try to relieve the enormous headache that he had. It turns out the move Luke had used was called the 'Death Touch', although it doesn't cause death, only overloads the nerves to create a mental block that knocks people out. Thus creating the headache.

"Ohhhhhh...was that really nescessary?" He moaned to which Luke only chuckled at.

"Yes, although I could have used a more simple move that only paralysed one of your limbs, It was still very funny to see you just completely collapse."

"Well, how does it work?" Riley asked.

"We'll delve into that later, but for now I'm going to show you the points of access. What the points of access are, are just selective places where you can hit someone with a certain velocity that it will cause either paralysis, or unconsciousness." Riley nodded and Luke continued, "The point of access or PA that I used on you was where the nerves that can trigger sleep are. If you hit it with the right amount of force, the victim will fall into unconsciousness."

"That sounds complicated..." Riley replied.

"Well it is, but you'll get it with ease-I know it." Luke smiled.

* * *

As the train continued to speed along the tracks, Humphrey and Kate were peacefully sleeping side-by-side. Until a flapping sound could be heard growing closer and closer, making both their ears twitch as they left their state of unconsciousness, slowly opening their eyes.

"What's that?" Humphrey asked groggily.

"No idea" Kate replied softly as she stood up and stretched again.

It was very early morning, the sun hadn't come up yet and it, was, cold. Not as in "yeah it's a wittle bit chilleh" as in it was COLD.

They both shivered when a blast of cold air whooshed through the open carriage door.

The flapping grew louder and louder, until two objects came flying though the door and rolled onto the floor.

"Paddy...Marcel...you woke us up..." Humphrey groaned before he too stood up and stretched.

"Well that is good, because you are nearing Jasper Park now and should be awake." Marcel replied dusting himself off.

Kate's ears perked up at that and her tail wagged. "Humphrey! We'll be home soon!"

"Yeah...I know..." He groaned still half asleep.

"Ok, well we just thought that we ought to let you know that you should hop off in about ten minutes. We'll be going now, see you soon!" Paddy replied before they both spread their wings and took off.

"Yay!" Kate yelled as she tackled Humphrey to the ground. "We'll be home soon!" She said as she nuzzled him affectionately.

"Yeah, I can't believe we're finally back!" He said as he hugged her. "Now let's just pray that fate is kind"

For the remainder of the 10 minutes, Humphrey and Kate laid there in each other's embrace, listening to the sound of the trees rushing past them. Eventually they passed a sign that said _Welcome to Jasper!_ and they both got up quickly.

"Here we are. You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied.

They both then looked for a suitable place to jump and found one; some long grass by a tree.

"One...two...three!" The counted simultaneously before they leapt and landed in the grass, Kate rolling onto all four paws, and Humphrey rolling into the tree with a _thud_.

"Ow..." he moaned as he fell back down onto the grass. "Soft landing but rolled into a tree...aren't I just the best!" Humphrey smiled sarcastically making Kate laugh.

They then started trotting along the forest, pelts touching side-by-side as they walked along in the moonlight. They walked in silence, for nothing needed to be said amongst them; just being in each other's company was enough.

As they walked, Humphrey noticed a large hill across the valley with a waterfall running down the side of it and he got an idea.

"Hey Kate?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"I've really enjoyed our time together...why not find a place to rest tonight and the go to Jasper in the morning? I don't think rocking up past midnight will help our cause either."

"Hmmm...I see your point. Ok" she agreed happily. "Where then?"

"Well, I don't know about you but that place looks nice up there." Humphrey said pointing towards said hill. She followed his gaze and agreed with a smile.

"That looks great! I bet the view would be spectacular!" She said enthusiastically.

"Let's go take a look then! I'll race you there?" He said easing his eyebrow.

"Oh please...I'll cream you!" She laughed. "Do you want a head start?" She asked.

"Nah. On the count of three! One...two...THREE!" and on three they both took off, running by each other and surprisingly, Humphrey was keeping up with Kate. Then he seemed to slow down, with Kate pulling ahead and just when she went ahead of him him veered off to the left.

Unbeknownst to Kate, Humphrey had found a short-cut and was taking it. He knew that he couldn't match Kate's speed so he had to use his wits.

Moments later, Kate had reached the top of the mountain and turned around, ready to say "I win!" but no one was there. Confused, she looked around for Humphrey but couldn't see him anywhere.

"Uh, Kate?" Humphrey called out from behind her. Kate turned to see Humphrey laying down on his belly with his head leaning on his paws. And he was soaking wet. "I win!" He smiled cheekily.

"How did you..." She said puzzled, to which Humphrey laughed at.

"Ha, I knew I couldn't match your speed so I took a shortcut" he replied.

"Why are you all wet?" She asked.

"Well, I ran through the river to get here quicker" he replied.

"You ninny...now you're gonna be cold" she replied laughing.

"Oh well...so long as I win!" He smiled cheekily.

She playfully punched his arm as she laid down next to him.

"Ooh you're cold and wet" Kate shivered as she felt his wet fur against her own.

"Oh well, you gotta live with it" he replied smiling.

They sat in silence as they appreciated the beauty of the stars and the comforting silence.

"Kate...I've been meaning to ask you something" Humphrey said as he broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Well Kate...I've loved you my whole life, and I've only been able to show that love to you recently so I want to ask you something that I've wanted to ask you for a long time" Humphrey said as he looked into the night sky.

"What?" Kate almost whispered.

"Will you marry me, and be my mate?"

A moment of silence ensued as Kate's eyes widened and her mouth grew into a large smile.

"Yes!" She almost yelled as she jumped on him, nuzzling him furiously. "Yes, I love you and I want to be with you forever"

They shared a passionate kiss as they embraced each other, the trees dancing in the wind around them.

They then broke the kiss and looked into each other's eyes lovingly.

"Let's just hope we can be married in Jasper" Kate said

* * *

**A/N**

**So there we have it! Another chapter done and dusted! Also, if you are following the story or have favorited it, then please leave a review to let me know why and how you fell about the story, as well as your review for this chapter. Cheers guys it would be much appreciated!**

**Have a good one!**


	8. Part One: Bound (8)

**A/N  
**

**So here is the final re-written chapter, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Part One**

**#8 Bound**

* * *

As the sun rose on Jasper, the inhabitants of the Western and Eastern pack were waking. In the main den of the Western pack, two wolves were racked with stress and grief.

"Winston...what are we going to do? We haven't found Kate anywhere..." an aged tan-brown wolf sobbed.

"I know Eve, let's just hope she's safe and that she comes home soon. I don't think Tony will hold his patience much longer" muttered the mature grey wolf named Winston.

"What if she never comes back?" Eve cried.

"She will...I bet you she'll be home before you know it" smiled Winston.

* * *

Humphrey and Kate were now beginning the final leg of their journey. They had met new friends along the way; friends that they'll have for life. They had slept close together last night under the stars, hoping and praying that they can live and love in the pack that they'd grown up in, surrounded by their friends and family.

They had been walking for close to an hour now and were nearing the packs borders, the anticipation rising within the both of them as they nervously approached either love, or grief. Humphrey then broke the silence between them as they walked through the forest.

"Kate, whatever happens next...know that I love you deeply with all of my heart." Humphrey said as he nuzzled her, their pelts touching side-by-side as they walked.

"I know Humphrey, and I want you to know that I too love you with all my heart, for it yearns to be with you and only you, forever." Kate replied as she nuzzled him back.

Within five more minutes, they were inside the pack's territory once more. They both felt a sense of safety and security just by being there; their home.

"Ok Humphrey, to make things easier for us, we should go straight to the main den and talk to my parents before anyone else." Kate said.

"Yes that's a good idea. We can't let anyone know that we're back yet until we've cleared things up, otherwise they could feel a false sense of hope." Humphrey replied as they neared the main den. He took a long, deep nervous breath when they reached the entrance. Kate stifled a giggle at his trepidation.

"You'll be fine, remember I'm here too." Kate said as she walked in. "Mum? Dad? I'm back!" She called.

Eve turned her head to see her daughter returned, safe and sound.

"Oh Kate!" Eve cried as she ran over to her and embraced her. "We've been worried sick about you! Where have you been? Are you hurt?" Eve asked.

"No mum! I'm perfectly fine, Humphrey and I were captured by hunters and they relocated us to another park! Fortunately, we found a few unlikely friends that helped us get back home." Kate replied as she embraced her mother.

Eve then stood back before eyeing Humphrey suspiciously. "You didn't try anything did you?" Eve questioned.

"Huh...w-what? No...I just-"

"-No mum, Humphrey actually helped me get home!" Kate replied cutting off Humphrey.

"Oh, well in that case, I am in your debt Humphrey. Thank you." Eve said as she hugged him. "Now Kate" she said as she released Humphrey and stood back. "Your father is currently over in the East trying to persuade Tony to giving us more time before you got back, but now you are here! Which is good, now we can unite the packs through your marriage with Garth!" Eve said happily.

Humphrey cringed and stifled back a growl at Eve's last words.

"That's the thing mum. I'm not marrying Garth." Kate replied.

Eve looked puzzled. "Why not dear?"

"I'll tell you everything you need to know soon, but we need to hold a meeting and dad needs to be here as well as Tony and Garth. Also, Lilly should be here too." Replied Kate.

"Ok then...but you better have a good reason. I'll go and get them." Eve said as she walked out to go find Winston and Lilly.

Humphrey let out his pent-up breath as Eve left. "Whew...that was intense. I thought I was going to die, and we hadn't even told her about us yet!" He said frantically.

"Shhh...calm down. Everything is going to work out, trust me." Kate said as she out on a large grin.

"Thanks dear" he replied as he kissed her on the cheek.

* * *

About half an hour later, all of the the aforementioned wolves were gathered in the Western main den. Anticipation grew in Kate and Humphrey as they all sat down.

"So...I take it now that Kate has returned she will unite the packs through her and Garth's wedding?" Tony asked.

"Yes-"

"No." Kate said, cutting off Winston who was shocked.

"What? Why can't you marry him?" Tony asked.

"I can't marry him, because I don't love him. I'm in love with another wolf and nothing you say can change that." Kate replied coldly.

"Well...if the packs go to war then it will be YOUR downfall-"

"No dad." Garth interjected.

"W-what?" Replied Tony, who was taken-aback by his son's interruption.

"You can't force someone against their will to marry someone they don't love if only for the good of the packs. I will not marry Kate, for I too, am in love with someone else." Replied Garth. Lilly's ears twitched as he said this.

"Who on earth could you be in love with? I haven't seen you with anyone before." Tony replied.

"That's because she's from this pack." Garth replied.

"Oh yeah? Then who. Prove it." Said Tony.

"She's sitting in this room." Garth replied and Lilly's heartbeat rose.

They had already established that he didn't love Kate...meaning the only other female in the room that it could possibly be was Lilly.

"I'm in love with Lilly. She is the most wonderful wolf to be with and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, regardless of pack-law." Garth replied.

Humphrey, Kate, Winston, Eve and Tony all just sat there in silence, shocked.

"And I'm in love with him too." Said Lilly as she smiled at Garth who smiled back.

"Well, who would have thought? An Alpha and an Omega huh?" Humphrey chuckled weakly, recieving looks from Tony, Winston and Eve. "Sorry...just trying to lighten the mood."

"You know that this is against pack-law right?" Tony asked.

"I don't care about the stupid law. Why don't just abolish the law and allow anyone to be mates, hmm?" Replied Garth.

"I agree with Garth, for I too, am in love with not only another wolf but an Omega." Kate said.

"What? You too? Now both of my daughters are in love with a wolf of the opposite rank..." Winston trailed off. "Tony..." He said as he turned to him. "I think we should do what's right here. Listen to your son, you do want him to be happy don't you? I can't see any reason why we shouldn't abolish the law"

Tony seemed to think about this for a moment, before he turned to his son and looked him in the eyes. "You really do love her, and will be happy if you can spend the rest of your life together?" He asked and Garth nodded. "Then...I see no reason why we shouldn't remove the law. Instead of uniting the packs through the marriage of Garth and Kate, we can unite the packs through the marriage of Garth and Lilly!"

Garth and Lilly's faces both lit up as he said this; they could be mates now and they were very happy.

"In that case, I officially declare the law abolished and will announce it at a pack meeting tonight." Winston said before he turned to Kate. "Now Kate...you said you were in love with an Omega as well...so who?" He asked and all attention was brought upon her.

"Well, actually I'm engaged to this wolf as well..." Kate said making Eve gasp.

_Here it comes_ Humphrey thought.

"It's Humphrey." She said and everyone's eyes turned to him.

"Haha...yep." He laughed weakly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

* * *

After the abrupt meeting with Tony, Humphrey and Kate were left alone as all the other wolves went off to do other things. Thankfully, Eve managed not to strangle Humphrey because she remembered she owed him a debt. Lilly went off with Garth. Eve with Winston and Tony went to notify the packs of the meeting tonight.

Humphrey and Kate decided to spend time together like Lilly and Garth, and they walked up to the hill that overlooked the valley before laying down next to each other.

"Kate" Humphrey said as he looked to the clouds.

"Yeah?" She sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Words cannot describe how happy I am feeling right now...Lilly and Garth...who knew?" Humphrey said softly with a small smile.

"Yeah...I was told they spent some time together while we were gone and Lilly showed him around the territory." She replied.

Humphrey was about to reply but was interrupted by a familiar flapping noise.

"You think...?"

"Yep" Kate agreed.

Humphrey and Kate looked around, trying to find the familiar white and yellow feathers. It didn't take long until they saw Paddy and Marcel above them.

"Down here!" Shouted Kate before Paddy and Marcel saw them and flew down.

"Aha!" Marcel cried out in triumph as he and Paddy landed. "So I take it all is well?"

"Yes, in fact all is more than just well; Humphrey and I are engaged now and we can get married here in Jasper! They abolished the law!" Kate said cheerfully.

"What?! That is great news!" Marcel said as he hugged her. "Although, when is the marriage? We might not be able to make it"

"What? Why not?" Humphrey asked.

"Well, we're want to find a crazy Russian goose that we haven't seen in a while, in fact he's a distant cousin of mine. Anyway, we leave tomorrow and we wanted to see you off before we go."

"Oh well...in that case thanks for all you've done. This wouldn't have been possible without you guys." Humphrey said.

"Anytime my furry friends and we may be back earlier because our friend may be coming back with us though." Marcel replied as he stretched his wings. "It's going to he a long flight to Alaska."

"Ok guys, we'll see you soon then! Bye!" Kate said as they took off.

"Kate, for our wedding, I don't really want every wolf to be there; just close family and friends." Humphrey said.

"I can agree with that, I don't want loads of people. Just a small gathering in the forest will be enough for me." She replied.

"Well, who should we invite then?"

"Well my family of course, which would include Garth as well seeing as they'll probably be married before us. Maybe we can delay it so Paddy and Marcel can make it too. Oh and I almost forgot! Riley! Without him, this never would of happened!" Kate replied.

"What do you mean?" Humphrey asked, puzzled.

"Well, on the night you were injured I told Riley about how I was forced into marriage to a wolf I didn't love, so he asked who I truly loved, which was you." Kate replied.

Humphrey nodded before she continued.

"Well, I told him about the pack-law and he said that I should fight for what I truly believe in with my life. So I did." Kate said as she smiled.

"Well, it seems I have to thank him for more than just healing my injuries!" Humphrey replied. "Oh and Sam's definitely coming too. She's partially responsible for this as well..."

"How so?" Kate asked, wondering how Humphrey and her's closest puphood friend could have influenced the outcome.

"Well during one of our sleepovers we went out for a walk while you were asleep still and she managed to get me to tell her that I loved you, even though you and I couldn't be together. She told me to persevere, so I did, and here we are." Humphrey smiled as if he couldn't believe it. "You know what? I think Riley is a lot like Sam, and they're both healers too. When we see Riley again we should introduce her to him." He added.

"Wow! So both Riley AND Sam are both largely responsible for this! They both are definitely going to be there for our wedding, but for now, we should probably go to see Sam and have a chat. I haven't seen her since the night we were taken and I've missed her." Kate replied as she got up.

"And while we're there I can get her to check up on my ribs and perhaps get me some more painkiller seeing as my ribs beginning to play up a little." Humphrey said as he swiftly joined her.

* * *

Two days later, two birds were flapping vicariously over the Alaskan snow.

"Thank goodness we're almost there...I'm almost out of energy" puffed Paddy.

"Yes I agree with you...we should have a quick rest first." Marcel replied.

"Oh shut up you lazy potato we'll be there in about five minutes and we had a break only half an hour ago."

* * *

As a goose ruffled around on the snow, foraging for any sort of food, he heard familiar voices from above.

It took him a moment, but the voices clicked in his head and the connection was made.

"Paddy! Marcel!" He whispered to himself as he looked up to the sky and sure enough, there were the two birds.

He then flew up to them but just before he reached them he went above them a dove between them, yelling as he did it and scared the hell out of the two.

"Boris! You fiend!" Marcel yelled when he realised who it was before laughing. "You always were a trickster"

"Haha, yes. Indeed but what brings you two here? I have not seen you in ages!" Boris replied in his thick Russian accent.

"Yes, we came to see you! I thought you might still be here, I'm glad we came across you otherwise this trip will have been for nothing." Marcel replied.

"Well, that is good then. Oh! I have a few friends that I want you to meet. Although you'll be surprised..." Boris said as they all flew off.

* * *

**A/N**

**Those of you who are wondering about when Balto is going to appear again...I think it's pretty self-explanatory now...**

**Also, 'Detrimental Reasons' is NOT a direct-to-movie fanfiction story. Meaning, the events of both the movies Balto and Alpha and Omega as well as the anime Wolf's Rain are not exact. I will try to put a list of changes on my profile sometime soon. **

**Some major changes for A&amp;O include:**

**The only characters from A&amp;O (obviously excluding my OC's) that exist in this story are Humphrey, Kate, Lilly, Garth, Winston, Eve, Tony, Paddy, Marcel and Hutch. The reason for this is because quite plainly I disliked most of the other A&amp;O characters and I want to keep this story as original as possible. **

**In the movie, 'Howling' is portrayed as just going 'Wooooahahah'. OMG could you get any more retarded. Therefore in this story, ANY form of howling is what real wolves do. **

**Some major changes for Balto include:**

**Balto and Jenna are pure wolves and have no affiliation with the town of Nome, the serum run or Rosy. In this story the only characters to appear are Balto, Jenna and Boris. Forget all about the movie apart from the character development between Jenna and Balto, and Boris and Balto.**

**Some major changes for Wolf's Rain include:**

**Only Toboe and Hige are planned to appear for real. **

**Just to let you all know, everything I have just said is not 100% set in stone and is subject to change. Change either by myself or from advice/opinions from others. That said, you are welcome to PM your response to me. And please, don't forget to leave a review on the chapter so I know how I did!**

**Have a good one :)**


	9. Part One: In Nome (9)

**A/N**

**"You get the beeeeeeeeeeeeest of both worlds". I think it's high time for a perspective change, hmm? Yes, I know you are going to hate me for making you think of a certain person but hey, it suits the change don't you think? No? I'm in need to seek counsel of a psychiatrist you say? I can agree with that, my friend. Anyway, I hope you Balto fans enjoy this chapter. If you aren't a Balto fan, still enjoy this chapter. ;)**

* * *

**Part One**

**#9 In Nome  
**

* * *

"So, what are these friends of yours like?" asked Marcel as he and Paddy followed Boris.

"Let's just say that they are different. You'll see when we get there." Boris replied.

After walking a while, Paddy felt a sort of prickling on his neck as if he were being watched. He looked to the right to find two yellow eyes staring at them from a bush. He gasped but before he could say anything to Marcel or Boris, a wolf jumped out from the bush making him shriek.

"Hahaha! That was fantastic! Your reaction was priceless!" the wolf laughed.

Boris and Marcel turned around to see the commotion.

"I must say, that was _not_ very nice." Paddy replied when he regained his composure. "Scaring poor birds like myself, you could give someone a heart attack."

"Yeah, sorry about that, uh, what's your name?" the wolf replied when he quit laughing.

"This is Paddy and Marcel, some old friends of mine" Boris interjected. "Paddy, Marcel. Meet my good friend, Balto."

"Nice to meet you." Balto smiled as he turned to them, revealing a scar on his left side. Paddy and Marcel gasped at the size of it. "Sorry guys, but I've got to go now. See, I need to speak with my father about some pack issues. Come along if you want to, most of our pack are friendly toward birds because of Boris." He added before he began to leave.

"Why not?" Marcel replied turning to Boris. "Actually Boris, we made friends with some wolves not too long ago. So this isn't as weird to as you'd think." He said before they all started to follow Balto.

Paddy came up to Marcel as Boris went up to chat with Balto.

"Don't you think Balto looks a lot like Riley?" Paddy asked Marcel.

"Actually, now that you mention it I do notice a resemblance. The only real difference is that Balto's fur is a lighter shade of grey and their eyes. Riley's eyes are actually rather unique too when you think about it, what with the purple tinge on his blue eyes." Marcel replied.

They had been walking for a bit, and Marcel and Paddy didn't seem to realise that they were already inside the pack's boundaries and wolves were watching them as they passed by. Soon enough though they had reached the main den and they entered swiftly. Inside, there were two older wolves, one brown male and a grey female.

"Hey Dad, I'm back from scouting." Balto said as he walked in, gaining both the wolves attention as he noticed who the other wolf was. "Oh hey Helen how are you? Have you seen Jenna at all?" he asked.

"I'm good thanks Balto" Helen smiled. "The last I saw her was by the feeding grounds." She answered before Rain turned to Balto.

Helen and Rain had been spending time together to keep each other company in the absence of their mates, however it was strictly friendship. They were both faithful to their own mates, and nothing would come of it.

"Anything on the borders?" asked Rain.

"No I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, although turns out Boris found a few old friends. This is Marcel and Paddy." Balto stepped aside as he introduced the two birds. "Marcel, Paddy, this is the pack leader, Rain."

"Good day!" Said Paddy. "Nice to meet you"

"Good day" Marcel echoed.

"Likewise." Rain replied smiling. "Boris has been my son's friend for a few years now since Balto was only a pup, so any friend of Boris' is welcome here."

"Oh, so Balto is your son? This must be your mate then I presume?" Marcel asked motioning to Helen.

Rain gave a short laugh before replying "Oh goodness, no, we're just friends. This is the pack's healer, Helen." Helen nodded her head and she laughed at Marcel's misunderstanding. "My mate I'm afraid is no longer with us…" He trailed off.

"I'm sorry for that. If I'm not being intrusive, might I ask what happened?" Paddy asked.

"No, no. Not at all. It's ok." Rain assured. "My mate and I lived a peaceful life a little ways away from here where the pack originally was. Unfortunately, we were attacked by a murderous clan of wolves that called themselves the Revolution. After organising defences for an evacuation, I had Dawn, my mate, run somewhere safe with our pups while we were evacuating because to me her and our pups safety was my first concern. After the attack, we were left with only a quarter of what the pack first was. It was devastating, but we eventually overcame the enemy and got away."

"If you got away alright and your mate was safe elsewhere then what happened to her?" Marcel asked delicately.

"It turns out that shortly after Balto and his brother opened their eyes they were attacked by a large brown bear. The bear had fatally wounded her when it knocked her into a tree." Rain said tearing up slightly.

"You don't have to continue if you can't" Paddy reassured. "Although might I ask where your other son is?"

Balto thought it were appropriate for him to join in the conversation at this point. "After I saw my mother hit into that tree, I couldn't help myself. I ran out to try to protect her as a pup with no skill whatsoever, earning myself this scar." He said as he showed Paddy and Marcel the scar on his left side that they saw earlier. "I was knocked into a nearby river, half-dead, and somehow I made it back to Nome in the current. We haven't seen Riley since then and we presume he's dead. Although I'm not so who knows…"

Paddy and Marcel looked at each other in shock.

"What is it…?" Balto asked.

"What does your brother look like?" Paddy asked intensely.

"He looked like me, although his fur is darker and he has these stunning, blue eyes with a purple tinge. He was unique, it was as if he had two different eye colours battling it out." Balto said before he sighed. "I wish I could see him again, I miss him so much." Balto replied as he too, started to tear up a little.

"What would you say if we told you your brother is alive?" Marcel asked enthusiastically.

"What?" Balto choked disbelievingly before he dropped his head again. "Don't toy with us" he muttered.

"No we are not, from where we come from we met a wolf who looks just like you but with darker fur. His eyes were a light blue with a purple tinge, and his name was Riley." Paddy replied smiling. "We can take you to where he is if you'd like."

Balto and Rain both looked up, shocked.

"Are you being serious?" Asked Rain disbelievingly.

"Yes of course we are. Why would we lie to you about something like this?" Marcel replied.

"These two have never lied to me in my life, and Marcel _is_ my distant cousin…I trust them" Boris said.

"In that case, how about I go with them to find him. If I can be spared from duty, that is." Balto said as he looked to his father.

"I would love to go as well but then nothing would get done so regretfully I must stay here. Yes, I can relieve you of your duties because this is very important. I have one condition though, you need to bring him home so I can see him again" Rain said smiling. "Although we need to ask Boris' friends if that would be ok with them remember?" He added looking to Paddy and Marcel.

"Why yes we would be happy to help! We owe Riley a favour anyway for not eating us." Marcel replied.

Balto looked to his father again, and could swear he saw something that he hadn't seen in him for a while: Hope.

"It's settled then!" Rain continued. "Balto, you will leave with Paddy and Marcel before daybreak, as long as it's ok with you guys?" Rain directed the last part to Paddy and Marcel.

"Yes no worries, that should be fine, right Marcel?" Paddy nudged Marcel raising his eyebrow.

"Oh shut up you…fine" Marcel replied.

"He's not much of an early riser but he'll be fine" Paddy commented aside to Rain.

Rain looked to Balto who seemed quite happy that he was going to see his brother again after so long. He laughed inwardly at his enthusiasm, although his own enthusiasm could match his son's quite easily. He had hope again. "Paddy, Marcel, how far away is Riley?" He asked to the birds.

"Well it took us about two days to fly here so I would say maybe 1000 kilometres. A place called Sawtooth National Wolderness." Paddy answered while Marcel was still hopelessly counting.

"Goodness that is a long way from home…You'll need to have an accompaniment." Rain turned to Balto whose face changed to that of a shocked expression.

"W-what?" he choked. "I don't need some wolf to accompany me I'm old enough now to take care of myself." He added.

"Jenna has been wanting to get out a bit more I'm sure she'd go with you" Helen said and to her amusement he reacted spontaneously.

"Okay sure that's f-fine Jenna can come with me" Balto replied although his voice broke when he tried to say "fine".

Both Rain and Helen laughed at this before Balto looked away, blushing incredulously.

"Ok Helen could you please let Jenna know the arrangement?" Rain asked.

"Will do." Helen replied before she headed off to find her daughter.

Rain the turned to Boris "As for you, I take it you'll accompany Balto on his trip?"

"Why yes of course I will. What sort of friend would I be to both him as well as Paddy and Marcel of I didn't?" Boris replied laughing.

"It looks like it's settled then: Balto and Jenna will be accompanied by Boris, Paddy and Marcel to Sawtooth and you leave in the morning before daybreak." Rain said and they all nodded "In that case, this meeting is now adjourned. See you in the morning."

* * *

A while later, Marcel and Paddy were flying around the pack territory with Boris, whom was showing them the main features of the territory including a large frozen lake, a high mountain with a deserted cave, and a clearing where Boris in fact played a game that involved hitting a round rock with a stick, namely _Golf_ (much to Paddy and Marcel's surprise, who were quite fond of the game themselves). They ended up having a game with each over, having a merry old time for the rest of the afternoon.

Balto was left alone for a while when he went up to a hill and sat under a willow tree; his favourite place to just kick back and chill out. He didn't know why he liked the willow tree so much. Maybe it was because it was just rare to see around these parts. He didn't know. All he did know, was that it gave him a peace he'd comfort any day.

He was staring at the clouds when the sound of paws on snow alerted him to a red and white she-wolf's presence. He turned to see Jenna approaching from behind.

"Oh hey Jenna. How are you?" He asked.

"Good thanks, yourself?" she replied.

"Yeah I'm good; just watching the clouds go by" he smiled to her.

"It looks like I'm coming on a journey with you' she said as she sat down next to him, the clouds swiftly on the course set by the wind. "My mother was telling me how enthusiastic you were on having me come with you even though you're "_old enough to take care of yourself_"." Jenna laughed before she giggled at the blush that was clearly evident on his face.

"I-I was just thinking how fun it would be if you were to come along. Plus your mother said you really wanted to get out more." Balto replied coolly, trying to hide his blush.

"You're right about that, I definitely want to get out as see the world a little more. Thanks for being so considerate" she laughed again. "So this news about your brother, it really does bode well. I'm so glad that you found out he's alive, I can understand the pain that you've endured not knowing." she added as she looked up to the clouds again.

Balto looked to her again, and saw her beautiful brown eyes that were scanning the sky. She knew his pain, as she had never known her father. Rain had told him about Jake, Helen's mate, and about how he was still missing to the day. Both of their families had someone missing, be it Riley or Jake, and both Balto and Jenna were torn.

"Thanks Jenna. It means more to me than you could imagine." Balto said as Jenna returned his gaze. "Who knows, maybe your father is still alive somewhere out there. I'm sure he's been looking for you. He'd be proud to see the wolf you've become." He added.

Jenna smiled before she leant in and kissed Balto on the cheek, turning his cheeks to pink again as they rose in an upward fashion. "Thankyou Balto, you've always been there for me when I've needed you" she said as she got up. "I would suggest you get some sleep soon; the sun is setting now. We _are_ leaving before dawn, you know." She added smiling, before she turned, and left for her den. All the while Balto was watching her go, his eyes fixated on her beauty.

_She's so beautiful, she's the most loving and caring person I know. I should just come up and tell her my feelings towards her. How hard could it be? We have been friends for as long as I could remember, I'm sure the outcome could prove most interesting for better or worse. However I'm too embarrassed to do anything about it _Balto thought. _Maybe I'll have a chance to tell her on this trip. _

* * *

"Wake up! Wake up! Get up already, we're leaving now and everyone is waiting for you!" Boris' voice rang through Balto's sleepy ears.

"Huh?" He managed to mutter as he lifted his eyelids, only to see Boris right in his face. "AHH!" he shrieked as he quickly fumbled to get up. However this did not fare well, as he was still sleepy and he ended falling back on his butt. "What was that for?" he groaned as he tried to sit up again, this time succeeding.

"What do you mean? You're late! The sun is about to come up and we should already be at the main den now!" Boris replied intensely.

"Oh…ok" Balto mumbled as he rubbed his eyes with his paws.

* * *

As Balto and Boris arrived at the main den, as Boris predicted, he was late. Everyone was there, waiting for him.

"You'd think he'd try to get here on time." Rain muttered to Helen. "Although he's never been one for waking early."

"I can second that" Jenna giggled.

"Anyway, you'd best be off. I look forward to seeing you again soon." Rain said before he leaned in to whisper into Balto's ear: "You've made me very proud, now I wish you the best of luck. Please bring Riley here safely." Then Rain backed up to see the members of the party: Balto, Jenna, Boris, Paddy and Marcel. "Paddy, Marcel, I can't thank you enough for this. You are always welcome here. Godspeed my friends, now get going. I eagerly await for your return. Good luck."

With that, Jenna said a few words to her mother and Balto said a few things to his father before they all left the den in a sort of orderly fashion. They swiftly came upon the pack borders and crossed them, the sun rising behind them as they pushed forward. Marcel, Paddy and Boris flying above Jenna and Balto.

_I will FIND YOU my brother, I hope you are of good health. I miss you very much, and so does father. Let our paths cross again soon. _

With that motivational thought, Balto pushed forward. He wanted to see just how much his little brother had grown.

* * *

**A/N**

**To all the Balto fans of this story, your patience has paid off. I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I put a lot of thought and effort into it. Now, onto the next chapter. The next chapter will be a special chapter for the close of part one and will be 6000-8000 words. Be prepared for anything to happen, for I believe you will be shocked….**

**Anyway, I believe most of you will like the character development between Jenna and Balto this chapter because I know that I did :D**

**Please review and don't forget to favorite/follow the story as you wish :)**

**Have a good one!**


	10. Part One - End: Detrimental (10)

**A/N**

**So here we are. 7000 words of suspense for your viewing pleasure ;) please remember to leave a review! I hope you all enjoy this chapter it took me a while to do because it's so long and I wanted to get it just right :) Oh and just letting you know, I'm going to have to change the story to M now. Yeah that's right, this chapter is rated M for descriptive violence and coarse language. However I'm not changing the rating yet until I let everyone know that they'll have to look for the story with the M filter turned on. Remember that :) and enjoy!**

* * *

**Part One – End**

**#10 Detrimental**

* * *

"I'm impressed with your progress Riley. Your understanding of the pressure points and knowledge of all the points of access is incredible for only having been learning for such a short time" Luke said to Riley while they were sitting in their den. "In your test, you distinguished all the pressure points with precision. Therefore, I now dub thee a master of medicinally advanced combat. Congratulations!" Luke said as he patted Riley on the back.

"Well, it was fairly simple. All you need to do is memorise the positions judged by the body mass of the target." Riley replied, beaming with pride.

"I'm glad and very pleased with how well you have been coping with the training! Now as a final task for you, I want you to retrieve a plant known as _Swainsona Formosa, _also known as a _Sturt Desert Pea. _They are very rare in this country, being found mainly in desert areas, although I know a place where I found one during your training. It is the main ingredient to the anti-toxin for _dualasis delaphacias_;a poison derived from the Purple Delaphacia flower. The poison contains many different harmful chemicals, including quicksilver and others that cause immense pain and paralysis." Luke said seriously.

"I don't think I'd fancy befalling ill with that." Riley commented.

"Certainly not, because with quicksilver poisoning, it will stay in your bloodstream until you die. There's no getting rid of it. The only cure is the Desert Pea, which even still, only binds the mercury together to stop it disintegrating your blood cells." Luke replied, causing Riley's eyes to widen and a shocked expression to come across his face.

"Seriously? That is terrible! Whoever concocted such a poison?" Riley said, still wide-eyed.

"I do not know, however it is getting late. Your task is to find the Desert Pea and bring it back to me before sunrise."

"Okay then, I'll be back with it soon!" Riley turned and rushed out of the den before Luke could say any more.

"WAIT!" Luke shouted as he ran out of the den and Riley skidded to a stop. "You might need to know what it looks like and where it is don't you think?" Luke questioned.

"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. What does it look like?"

"The Desert Pea has blood-red leaves with a black, bulbous centre. They were in a cave at the top of the mountain over there" Luke pointed behind Riley to the large snow-capped mountains behind him. Riley turned around and saw them before he turned back and nodded to Luke.

"See you soon." Riley smiled before he turned and headed off to find the plant.

Luke laughed as he turned back to the den. Riley was in for a surprise; as soon as he got back with the pea, Luke was going to graduate him. This was the end of his training.

Luke sighed as he went back inside. _I'll miss him, I really will. He's been such a good influence on me. I haven't had so much fun before. I think he sees me as a father-figure for the father he lost._

Luke heard something outside that interrupted his train of thought. He listened intensely for it, and he heard it again: voices. That piqued his interest.

_Who would be here at this time of night?_

He exited the den quietly to have a look. He jumped into a nearby bush sneakily and heard a few hushed voices.

"I'm picking up two scents" a male voice whispered.

"Do you think one of them is the one we need?" a female voice whispered in reply.

"Possibly, but for now we have to be quiet, we don't want to alert anyone to our presence."

_It's a bit late for that _Luke rolled his eyes. _What do they want?_ Through the bushes he could see a company of about five wolves, all moving shiftily as if they had a deathly purpose. But what if they did have deathly purpose?

_What if it's them…what if they are here to assassinate him? I won't stand for it. If I'm a father to him, then it's my job to protect him. I hope these guys aren't here for trouble…_

Unfortunately, what one of them said next confirmed his suspicions.

"We'd better take the Nome runt out quickly so we can get back and report. I don't want to be in this dump any longer than we have to. Our intel told us he ran off here like the little shit he is, so let's get this pain in the ass over with." another male voice whispered impatiently.

Luke had to stifle back a growl to remain unnoticed. _You bastard…I won't let you get anywhere near him._

Luke decided that he'd play it out and try to get them to leave without any violence as he left the bushes from behind so that they couldn't see him and slinked away back to the den. Then, just as they rounded the corner, he made like he was just returning to his den.

"Why hello there! How are you?" Luke called out cheerfully and they looked up at him slightly shocked to see him, but then they recovered.

"Hello, uh, good thanks." The female wolf replied, stopping any idea of the others killing Luke. Being the calmest and most headstrong out of the impatient males, she knew not to just kill of anyone, especially when they could be of use. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to them, he would be exactly opposite. "We've lost one of our pack members and we are looking for him. Would you happen to have seen any other wolves around here sir?" She asked in a nice manner, although Luke could see through her doltish play instantaneously.

"Actually I did see a wolf off when I was hunting a little while ago" Luke replied, smiling warmly as if he were the friendliest and hospitable lone wolf in the world.

"Where about did you see him? You've no idea how worried we are about him, we just hope he's safe." The she-wolf replied tearfully, faking a break-down. However, Luke was the better actor. Smarter, quicker and cunningly _protective._

"Well he was off that way" Luke said pointing to the complete opposite way, back where they came from. "About twenty kilometres away".

"W-What!? I-I mean, that's really far our friend to have strayed from us. I really hope he is ok, he's had us so worried! Are you sure that's where he is?" The she-wolf asked in a hopeful manner. The vulgar wolf who cursed Riley before snorted impatiently but she ignored him.

"Yes one-hundred percent sure. There isn't much food here so I have to travel far to get some, and I saw him there only yesterday. I'm an old geezer and this place is home to me so I don't want to move. Plus I get good exercise-"

"Ok shut up now, we'll be leaving" the vulgar wolf said as he grabbed the she-wolf forcefully and walked the way Luke had directed them, followed by his cronies.

"Ok, good luck I hope you find your friend soon" Luke shouted out to them before they turned the corner.

"I'd better get Riley right away. We have to get out of here." Luke muttered to himself before he turned and ran towards the mountain.

* * *

"What the hell were you doing? I could smell the little shit all over him! He was lying!" the vulgar wolf said to the she-wolf.

"I was just trying to find out information peacefully Davon, you know, like normal wolves? I know that Calcifer has orders from the boss who wants us to kill the Nome runt but we don't have to kill every wolf we come across." The she-wolf replied, although Davon didn't care for what she was saying and slapped her.

"You're a bitch Lorna. I don't give a shit about what you think, if I want to kill someone then I will. YOU GOT THAT!" Davon yelled at her and she cowered in fear. "That's what I thought you slut." He turned to one of the other wolves that were in his assassination party. "Alert the others. Tell them to follow our scent." The other wolf nodded and ran off behind them. Then Davon turned to Lorna. "As you for you, do as I say and I won't have to beat you for the cunt you are. I'm the leader of this party. Don't fuck with me."

Lorna merely shied away from him and shut her mouth.

"That's good. Now let's go."

* * *

_Damn it all. I hope those wolves haven't figured it out yet _Luke thought to himself as he rested. He'd been running non-stop, but his body was growing older and older as every day flew by. He'd managed to reach the forest just before the start of the mountain before he stopped to breathe. He was just about to head off again when he heard something that chilled him to the bone.

"Well, what have we got here? You liar. Didn't your parents ever tell you not to tell lies?" a voice came from behind him.

"So you figured it out huh? You're smarter than I thought for goons." Luke replied as he turned around to see three wolves from before; the vulgar male who had spoken, the female and the other male. There was no use putting up the act any longer if they'd already figured it out.

"Shut up cretin. Now, you're going to tell me where the runt is before I end your miserable life." He replied.

"Davon-" Lorna started but she was cut-off by him as his paw punching her in the face, flinging her off to the side.

"SHUT UP. I TOLD YOU I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR OPINION BITCH!" He yelled at her, making Luke feel sympathetic towards Lorna because she was abused, although it quickly dissipated after he remembered why she was even there. "Now" Davon said, turning back to Luke. "Where was I? Oh. That's right, about to find out where the little shit is." He said grinning sadistically.

"You're wasting your time. Leave." Luke replied sternly.

Davon's expression changed from that of a calmly sadistic state, to one of pure enragement.

"YOU'LL REGRET DEFYING ME!" Davon yelled as he ran towards Luke.

When he saw this, Luke braced himself for the wolf before him to attack. As Davon was running towards him, Luke quickly observed his weaknesses. Davon was a large wolf, meaning his weight would be easily shiftable. His lope was one of a clumsy attitude, running towards him and unevenly placing his weight on his preferred side; his right. Most of all, Davon's anger was clearly visible, letting Luke know that the wolf before him would be susceptible to make mistakes. Fatal mistakes.

Davon was now in front of Luke, his jaws opening to clamp down on his would-be victim's neck. Luke now sprang into action; pulling himself to the left and allowing Davon's jaws to miss him by mere millimetres before turning and clamping his own jaws relentlessly on Davon's neck, and using the wolf's own weight and momentum to throw him into a tree behind and to the left of Luke. A sickening crack could be heard as one of Devon's discs in his vertebrae dislocated and broke off from his spine, before he slid from the tree down to the ground, motionless.

Luke sighed, hating it to have come to this as both Lorna and the other wolf in the assassination party stood staring in shock at what they had just witnessed.

Luke was an observant wolf, and knew the laws and physics of the world well. One of the most common connections between physics and combat was that an object in motion tends to_ stay_ in motion tandem to the force of the starting motion. Unless of course, it was acted upon by an unbalanced force. All Luke needed to do was alternate and re-direct where the motion was going, thus turning a merciless and battle-hungry Davon into a quadriplegic wolf who won't be moving again for the rest of his life.

Luke now walked to him in silent rage. "You petty, indecent scum, how _dare_ you insult him." Luke said, placing his unsheathed claws on Davon's neck, who whimpered pleadingly. However Luke had no mercy for the derisive wolf before him and in one swift movement, raked his claws across Davon's throat, depriving him of his undeserving life.

Seeing this as opportune time to strike, the other male wolf careered towards a seemingly-unsuspecting Luke before bounding upon him, claws unsheathed. What the wolf didn't know however, was that Luke had already predicted the rash move from the wolf and as it leapt high into the air, Luke rolled to the side. Then with an unimaginable amount of speed he dived into the side of the wolf as it hit the ground, sending them both sprawling a few feet. After a few seconds of tumbling, the two recovered and were up on their feet lightning-fast. Luke was the first to act, moving and punching the wolf on its right shoulder where a pressure point was located, paralysing its arm and making it fall hopelessly on the ground. As the wolf realised what had happened he shrieked in surprise before Luke's claws again tore out another snide wolf's throat.

Luke then turned and snarled at the one remaining wolf who stood a threat to one of the most precious things that he held dear in his life. Lorna just seemed to collapse as she covered her head with her paws, shaking, waiting for death to come. Although he knew he shouldn't, Luke felt pity for the cowering she-wolf before him.

"Leave. Now." Luke growled angrily.

Lorna looked up to see Luke no longer snarling at her, but glaring angrily at her. "You heard me. Leave now before I CHANGE MY MIND AND KILL YOU!" After hearing that, she just up and bolted as fast as she could. "DO NOT COME BACK." Luke yelled after her, making her run even faster if it were possible.

* * *

It was now that Riley knew something was up. He had retrieved the Desert pea from a cave at the top of the mountain and he was surprised with how amazingly deep-red it was, but that wasn't what had piqued his interest. He had heard voices before, although he couldn't tell to whom they belonged to until one of them shouted loudly, revealing the voice as Luke's. That worried him.

_Who would be here in the dead of the night, and why would Luke feel the need to yell at them? Normally Luke would never yell unless he was motivating me. What could be so bad that Luke would yell at them?_

Riley now ran back down the mountain bullet-a-gate, the Desert Pea still in his mouth.

* * *

Luke was running up the mountain trying to find Riley as he saw a grey blur rush past him. _Riley!_

"Riley! Stop!" Luke yelled and thankfully Riley heard him and skidding to a stop.

"Luke! What's going on? I heard yelling…" Riley trailed off as he spotted blood on Luke's claws and chest.

"I can explain." Luke said as he motioned for Riley to follow him. "Come now, we have to get out of here. They're here." Riley stopped and time seemed to stop.

"W-why are they here…" Riley stammered, remembering whose fault it was for the death of his mother and brother, and the separation of his possibly-dead father.

"I told you they would come back. Let's just be thankful that they've only appeared now, at the end of your training. By the way Riley…" Luke said as he turned to him, noticing the Desert Pea still in Riley's mouth and smiled. "…You just graduated. Congratulations, that was your final task and now that you've completed it you have no further training."

Riley stopped now as he turned to him as the Desert Pea fell from his mouth. "W-what? Seriously!?" he asked, surprised.

"Mhmm" Luke nodded, chuckling inwardly. Riley now looked to the ground ahead of him blankly before a wide grin appeared on his face.

"Woohoo!" Riley shouted as he jumped upwards and did a back-flip which amused Luke, who now stood chuckling.

"Calm down, we need to get out of here. I'm serious. Let's go" Luke said sternly as he trotted into a run, Riley catching up to him effortlessly.

"So what's the plan?" Riley asked.

"We're going to head for Sawtooth. After that, we'll move up North." Luke replied as they both ran East-bound.

* * *

Three wolves were sitting in the battle-zone in the forest where two dead wolves now law, covered in the blood that had poured out of their open throats.

"I don't understand how you could have let them get away." A tall grey wolf said disappointingly to Lorna. Lorna felt a little scared when his emerald-green eyes turned away from her, not looking at her.

"I'm sorry Will...I couldn't do anything! He just…killed Davon _and_ Russel without even breaking a sweat." She said, motioning to the bodies. "He told me to run, or be killed. I didn't have a choice." Lorna said as the grey wolf sighed. Lorna was relieved that Will and Calcifer were the ones running this operation. Had it been any of the other lieutenants, Lorna would most likely be dead.

"It's OK, you're safe now." A brown wolf spoke up beside Will.

"Thanks Cal." She replied to the other lieutenant, knowing that in front of her were possibly the only two wolves in the entire Revolution that seemed to have a conscience. Most of the wolves in it were mainly mercenaries and thugs who came looking for blood out of enjoyment, but not Cal or Will. They were both born to the captured mothers inside the Revolution, adopted into the army. However neither of them knew this and the secret was kept from them.

"You are dismissed. Oh, and I'd thank my lucky stars that Gin won't hear about this if I were you." Will said to her as she quickly left the clearing. "I'm getting tired of all this…sometimes I just wish we could escape from it all. I feel a sense of displacement" Will said as he turned to Cal.

"I guess it's unfortunate for you that we are no longer in the snow so you can't just disappear like you always do in the snow" Cal replied. "In this scenery, my fur would easily blend in."

Cal took a second to look around to see if no one was there before he turned back to Will.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

"Sure, the rest of the party are all off hunting back at the camp. Unfortunately I have a feeling I'll lose this time…" Will replied as Cal ran off laughing gleefully. They loved to play games. Gin had ripped Will and Cal out from puphood and straight into training as soon as they opened their eyes. At this stage Cal and Will were really only shy of 2 years old, very young for their positions among the ranks.

"Here I come!" Will laughed as he followed Cal's scent.

* * *

"Whew, that was fun." Cal breathed heavily.

After Will found Cal he'd chased him down until he tackled him, making them tumble in the dirt. Now they had to somehow explain why their fur was so messed up.

"We could just say we're gay" Will suggested, earning himself a look from Cal. "Okay…I guess not. What about we just say we were sparring?"

"Good idea. Alright, let's go." Cal said as he turned to leave, Will following him.

They made their way back to the camp, where the other wolves were waiting for Cal's orders.

Currently under Will and Cal's command there were fifteen wolves whom all turned to him as he began his address.

"The enemy is strong. You face two wolves, one of high skill and the other is unknown but believed to be of high calibre as well. The mission is to eliminate them both. It's as simple as that. Now go and follow the scent left on the bodies." Will said as he motioned to where Davon and Russell lay.

The wolves now ran to the bodies and picked up the scent before they took off, hungry for blood. The only wolves who remained was Will and Cal.

"I sent Lorna back to base with another wolf; she wasn't going to be of any use to us." Will said. "Also, could you believe how quickly they went to their own dead friends bodies as if it were nothing? It's disgusting." He added.

"I know…I don't think I can take much more of this…" Cal said.

"I don't know if I can either." Will replied as the two of them followed the others.

* * *

"So, this is where I found Humphrey and Kate, where Kate tackled me." Riley was saying as he and Luke walked into the clearing at Sawtooth.

"I see. Do you miss them?" Luke asked him.

"Yeah…I just wish I had some company" Riley sighed before Luke gave him a look. "Company my age" Riley added.

They continued to wander along before Riley asked a question Luke didn't expect.

"Did you have a mate?"

That took Luke off guard; Riley hadn't asked him anything like this before.

"Uh…well…I don't know how to answer that. Err, why are you asking this now?" Luke asked.

"I was just wondering. What do you mean you don't know how to answer that? Is it hard for you or something? If that's the case then you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Riley said feeling a little guilty for maybe bringing something up that could make Luke uneasy.

"No…I think you have a right to know." Luke sighed. He then took a deep breath and began his story. "Back in my first pack in Alaska, there was this beautiful wolf. Her name was Leah and she was a caring and loving wolf with fur like yours." He then stopped, unsure if he wanted to continue or not.

"What happened?"

"After the attack, she and Tony were some of the only wolves that made it out alive besides me. We all moved to the East together where Tony became pack leader with his mate, Grace. Shortly after we got there, I asked Leah to be my mate and she said yes." Luke was now feeling tears swell in his eyes before he laughed. "I got her pregnant…but she died giving birth…" He added, choking the words out.

"Oh my God Luke…I'm so sorry…" Riley said sadly. "W-What about your pup?"

"She…s-she…" Luke then couldn't continue and broke down.

"I'm sorry I asked Luke don't worry about it now." Riley said soothingly.

"N-no, I can t-tell you." Luke sobbed slightly as he continued. "Leah and I had a girl, although we never had the chance to name her. First Leah passed during birth, t-then our pup disappeared. I was out on patrol one day and of c-course our pup was still a secret so I didn't get anyone to mind her, she'd normally just sit in my den. Well, I came home to find her gone and I n-never saw her again." Luke finished as he let a few silent tears stream down his face. "I'm a terrible father…"

"No Luke! You were an amazing father to me! I thank you so much for caring for me over all these years and-"

"-Quiet." Luke said sternly as his ears went up and he sniffed the air.

"What is it?" Riley asked.

Luke's eyes scanned the horizon suspiciously. "I can hear something…It sounds like scampering" He said.

"Think it's them?"

"It's a possibility. They might have had reinforcements to pick up my scent from the bodies. I was so wrapped up in making sure you were OK I forgot to dispose of them…" Luke said as he turned towards the mountain that was in the background. "It'd be safe if we were to get out of sight. Quickly."

"Good Idea." Riley said as they both turned tail and headed to the mountain.

* * *

In the bushes a pair of emerald-green eyes watched the two wolves as they ran towards the mountain, unaware of the danger befalling upon them. The moon was still shining upon the scenery, bringing white light to the leaves and trees.

_According to Lorna the older one with brown fur is the wolf that took out Davon and Russell…meaning the other one with the dark grey fur is our target _Will thought before he looked behind him a saw none of the other wolves except for Cal.

"Where the hell are the rest of our ranks?" Will whispered furiously to Cal, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, we passed them quite a while ago. I thought we told them to hurry?" Cal replied.

"God damn it…we're going to lose them if we wait for the others. The others are just sluggish grunts who kill for fun anyway, let's just leave them behind. The two of us should be able to take them." Will said as he crept out of the bushes along with Cal.

"What are we waiting for then?" Cal smirked as he looked up to the moon. "It's a crescent moon tonight…"

* * *

Riley and Luke had made their way into the mountain and were walking along the side of a steep cliff, a river running beside it far below.

Riley was looking at the moon in the sky, wondering what he'd done to deserve being hunted. Then, something in his head clicked as he remembered Luke and his' conversation from before.

_Tony and Garth…of course! They must be the same Tony and Garth that Kate and Humphrey were talking about! _Riley thought in his head as he turned to Luke to tell him the strange coincidence.

Before he could though, he heard something behind him. A twig snapped.

"Luke…" Riley began, turning around but was greeted with a brown wolf jumping towards him. He sprang into action, quickly averting the jaws that were aiming for his neck by rolling away to the side. Looking up, Riley could see Luke smash his paw into the brown wolf's face with enough force to send it sprawling a metre in the dirt.

As the brown wolf tried to recover another wolf; a grey one, had joined the fight and was now taking on Luke. Riley had only diverted his attention for a second whilst the brown wolf recovered from the staggering punch but it now took its chance and leapt forward, claws unsheathed. Riley gasped and at the last second countered with his left paw whilst at the same time, bringing about his right and punching in-between the wolf's collarbone.

The wolf yelped as it staggered back dizzily, nearly collapsing onto the ground before Riley. It was clearly taken aback by Riley's hit, but didn't collapse as Riley would've hoped.

_Damn it…I didn't hit the pressure point hard enough. It only made him drowsy _Riley though angrily.

Luke on the other hand, was also having a pressing time with the grey wolf who seemed to be of his calibre; dodging and weaving out of Luke's attack zone whist trying to strike at the same time.

After another round of hit-and-miss the grey wolf, enraged, dived into Luke and tumbled them towards the cliff edge.

Riley and the brown wolf looked over at the commotion before they saw both Luke and Will tumble too close to the edge, losing their footing.

"LUKE" "WILL" Both Riley and Cal shouted congruently.

Riley quickly turned back to Cal, whom was still occupied with witnessing Luke and Will fall over the edge. Moving swiftly Riley snaked forward and drove his paw right into Cal's temple; knocking him out instantly.

Without watching to see Cal's comatose body slump to the ground, Riley ran over to the edge of the cliff and scouted for Luke. He searched for what seemed like forever but he soon felt tears come to his eyes. Even still he didn't accept that outcome yet, Luke could still be alive somewhere down the River.

The River carried off away from the clearing but to get down there Riley would have to come back the way he came: back to the clearing. Riley knew there would possibly be more enemies there, but he had to take a chance for his mentor. He looked back over to Cal who was passed out on the ground, wondering if he should kill him.

"Screw it, just go" Riley told himself as he ran back towards the clearing.

He used his amazing speed to demolish the time it took to get him back to it although unfortunately, he wasn't the only one there. In-front of him and blocking the path to Luke were fifteen bloodthirsty wolves. Thankfully, their attention was elsewhere and they hadn't noticed him.

_Damn it_ Riley thought as he crept towards the tree-line quickly, trying to get out of sight.

However just as he was nearing it, a wolf called out. He turned to see that Cal had awoken and followed him back to the clearing, fuming, yelling to the wolves and alerting them to his presence.

"Time to go" Riley said to himself as he took off.

"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!" Cal yelled.

_I should have taken him out when I had the chance _Riley thought irritatingly.

As Riley ran, he heard a familiar noise. The train. Now he had a decision to make; to escape on the train where he would be safe, or somehow try and get Luke.

He thought long and hard about this as he ran towards the tracks before he finally made a decision.

_I'm in no way going to help Luke if I'm dead so my first choice should be to escape. Luke is very skilled, so if he survived the fall into the river he'd be fine since all the other wolves are focused on me. Right now, he's not the one in danger. I am. _

Up ahead were the train tracks and the train was fast approaching. Riley looked at the carriages to find a good opening and before long saw one that matched how long it would take him to get there.

He was within 5 seconds of reaching the carriage when he prepared to jump, shortening his step to make up for the power he needed from his hind legs.

Then without breaking his pace he leapt up and onto the carriage with time to spare, the force of the train moving along making him fall sideways. He quickly got up and turned to face his enemies, who were yelling and throwing insults at him as he passed them by.

"Nice to meet you too" Riley mocked as he gave a salute, gaining some more vulgar language and insults to which he could only laugh at. He then turned to the moon, gazing into its depths after the train left the clearing.

"I'll be back soon Luke. For now, I need some rest" He said to himself as he laid down on the hard wood.

"Be safe Luke"

* * *

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? GET ONTO THE TRAIN!" Cal yelled furiously from behind the rest of the wolves, who just turned towards him in confusion. One wolf however, understood and rushed up to the train. The last carriage was about to zoom by and fortunately for him it was open. He managed to jump aboard, an evil smile on his face when he climbed in. He licked his lips deviously and gave a demonic laugh at his luck.

"Now I get to kill him alone, and I can do so with utmost amusement. No longer I'll be interrupted on some fun time like usual when we go kill things…" The wolf thought aloud, imagining all the blood he'd be able to splatter everywhere. "This is going to be a fun night" he laughed greedily.

Back at the tracks, there was much yelling going on.

"YOU INSOLENT RETARDS COULD YOU NOT HEAR ME!?" Cal's voice rang out.

"We don't take orders from you" one wolf spat.

"Yeah, where did lieutenant Will go?" another voice came from the mass.

"Will is pre-occupied with falling off a cliff and into a river right now so I'M THE NEXT IN CHARGE! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE GET ON THE TRAIN!?" Cal yelled back.

"Farrell got on the train" one wolf said.

Cal looked at him blankly. "The psychopath?" he asked and the wolf nodded. "In that case, God save the kid that we're after. He would have been better off just dying here…"

* * *

It had been about three hours since Riley had left Luke behind, and was just waking up from resting. It was very early in the morning and judging by where the moon was Riley could tell it was about four o'clock.

"I suppose I should get off the train now" he said as he stretched briefly, looking out of the carriage. He found a suitable position to jump of; a thick bed of grass by a tree. _Perfect_ he thought as he prepared to jump.

However as he was about to, he heard a sound behind him. In his boxcar there was several cardboard boxes and he could swear he heard one of them move. Sceptical he moved away from the carriage door just before the cardboard box moved to the side revealing a large, evil-looking wolf with a demonic grin on his face.

"So, you're finally awake?" the wolf's voice taunted deathly, still smiling his evil grin.

"W-what do you want?" Riley said getting into a defensive position. "Are you with the Revolution?" he asked angrily.

"Why, you are quite the perceptive fellow aren't you? Yes, indeed I am from the Revolution. However I'm not like them, I'm much more…_fun_…hehehe" the wolf laughed evilly again. "I had to wait until you woke but I have been blessed with some fun time alone, no wolf can interrupt me now. I'm Farrell, and I'm the last wolf you'll see as your time on this world comes to an end" he added, leaping forward.

Riley reacted spontaneously and side-stepped him, before Farrell went right by him and out the carriage door. Riley turned around to see Farrell no-where in sight.

"Well…that was pathetic" Riley said as he turned back to look at the carriage.

"WRONG" came a voice from behind him and Riley rushed to turn around, but was too late.

_Splat_. Blood hit the floorboards of the carriage from where Farrell's claws had come across the left of his neck and from the top of his shoulder, leaving a ten centimetre-long deep cut.

"AHH" Riley shrieked as he jumped back, staring in shock at the amount of blood that was on the floor in front of Farrell.

"You thought I'd go down so quickly? Haha…_you're_ the one who's pathetic. Now look at all this wonderful red" Farrell looked gleefully at Riley's blood in front of him before jumped into it and rolling in it, covering his brown fur with the deep colour.

Riley stared in shock at the wolf in front of him. _What the hell…this psychopath is rolling in my blood…_ he thought. "Y-YOU'RE INSANE!" he yelled at the wolf in front of him before he slowly moved his paw to his neck. He pulled back when he felt the blood on his paw, instantly soaking it. Blood was coming out fast. Too fast. _Oh God…_ Riley thought.

"Yes…that's right…I ripped open your artery. Don't worry though, when your blood is all out of your body I'll paint you and it will be great!" Farrell laughed.

"Y-you're s-sick…" Riley spluttered weakly; his body was growing weaker by the second. _I have to get out of here._

Suddenly his vision went black and a figure appeared. It was a small and thin wolf with auburn fur. Around the wolf's right leg were three silver rings that clattered silently as he walked towards Riley, smiling gleefully.

When he spoke, his voice was young and full of innocence and life. Although Riley's hearing was growing dull, he could still make out what the wolf was saying.

"Hang in there my friend. My name is Toboe and I'm here to help you!" The wolf said gleefully. "You can make it" he added before Riley's vision came back to him and the wolf disappeared leaving him with the psychotic wolf, Farrell.

With a newfound strength and motivation, Riley ran towards Farrell and tackled him out of the carriage. Farrell didn't have time to react as they flew out into the open air, above the grass.

"DAMN YOU-" Farrell yelled before they landed on the ground with a _CRACK _and a _thud_. They rolled several times before coming to a stop. Remarkably, Riley was fine. The same couldn't be said for Farrell, who was now still and whimpering in pain. Riley got up and looked at Farrell. After landing on the ground with Riley on top of him, he'd broken his vertebrae.

"SHUT UP YOU SICKO" Riley yelled to the incapacitated wolf before striking his temple, knocking him out cold. He knew that when Farrell woke up, he would starve to death because he wouldn't be able to move.

After the adrenaline had gone from his body and the train had passed, Riley's body grew numb.

_I have to get help…_ He thought to himself before he stumbled towards the forest. He could smell another pack's territory and they would have to have some sort of healer. He had to be quick though; he was growing fainter by the minute as he lost more and more of his precious blood. It was making him sick and the amount that was now flowing from his wound made him tremble.

_I hope you're right…Toboe…whatever you are…_ Riley thought, although he doubted the mysterious vision. His wound was very serious. He'd lost so much blood, it was improbable that he would survive.

* * *

"Hahaha Lilly! Stop that" a reddish furred wolf laughed as his pure-white mate nuzzled him. "That tickles!"

"Sorry Garth, I couldn't help it" Lilly replied, laughing gleefully.

After their marriage yesterday and uniting of the packs, Lilly and Garth had stayed up all night in their excitement for being mates for life. They'd been walking around the territory but were slowly growing tired and were on their way to the den, _their_ den, that Garth's father had given him as a wedding present. It was on the edge of the territory, so they were pretty far out from the rest of the pack.

However, as they were walking back, Garth's trained nose could smell something disturbing in the wind. Blood.

"Lilly…stay behind me" Garth said when he saw a wolf stumbling towards them. "What are you doing on our territory?" He asked the wolf, who had now seen them.

"I-I need…help" the wolf spluttered, obviously in pain. The wolf's voice sounded young, about Garth's own age and it ringed with innocence.

Garth was about to tell him to leave before he saw the large amount of blood on the wolf's fur but the amount wasn't what astounded him. It was the fact that it was the wolf's own blood that made him queasy. Lilly must have noticed it too, for she gasped beside him.

"Garth, we have to help him. He'll die if we leave him." Lilly said before they both turned to look at the wolf, who now slumped to the ground unconscious. "Garth!" she said again.

"Alright, fine. Who's the healer in your pack?" He asked her as he walked up to the wolf and put him on his back. The wolf's blood trickled onto his back and he was shocked by how fast it was flowing out. "We'd better hurry, we don't have a healer in our pack and I don't think this wolf can last much longer" he added.

"Well let's get going. Our healer is a friend of my sister's and her name is Sam. Here, let me show you where her den is" Lilly replied as they both turned and rushed back towards the Western territory.

* * *

**A/N**

**And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of Part One. I'm not creating a whole new story for Part Two, it will still be in this story in the next chapter. I'll just be changed from "Part One: (Chapter name)" to "Part Two: (Chapter name)".**

**I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it took me forever to write and is practically an astonishing 7000 words. Please show your appreciation by leaving a review because it really helps me! I don't care if you say something mean, as long as it is constructive criticism!**

**Anyway, it looks like Toboe has now made an appearance ;) and if you don't know how to pronounce it, it's pronounced Toe-bo-way.**

**Just as a little guide, I'd like to let you know the ages (in human years) of the characters in my story just in case you can't pick it up. (It may be a little hard to tell in the way I've written it).**

**Toboe: 15**

**Riley, Kate, Humphrey, Lilly, Sam: 17**

**Garth, Balto, Jenna: 18**

**Will, Cal: 19**

**Luke: 27**

**Helen, Jake, Rain, Winston, Eve, Tony, Boris, Marcel, Paddy: 40ish**

**So yeah, just picture them sort of like that. I'm away on holidays in Victor Harbour (yay!) because school holidays just started so I should be able to get some more chapters out quicker ;)**

**Please review and follow/favorite as you wish!**

**Have a good one!**


	11. Part Two: Salutations (1)

**A/N**

**Begin Part Two. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#1 Salutations**

* * *

The grey wolf slowly opened his blue, purple tinged eyes, with a groan. He felt very weak and he had an itchy feeling on his neck. _What is on my neck… _he thought as he reached up to touch the object which he recognised as a leaf. He knew leaves were used in conjunction with tree sap to help hold wounds together so he wondered why he had them on him, until he remembered what had happened.

Riley looked around his environment; he was in a den with several assorted herbs and plants nearby. He recognised several mixtures including ones that relieved pain, one that treated blood poisoning and another that helped with fatigue. _It looks like those wolves I stumbled across helped me after all…this healer is very well prepared…_ he thought as he tried to get up. However he could hear something outside and quickly laid back down again, pretending to be asleep although with one eye open. Not long after, a slender grey she-wolf walked into the den and when she looked towards him he quickly shut his eye. Not quick enough, though.

"You can stop pretending to be out of it now you know…" she chuckled as she walked over to the plants.

_Dammit…_

"How long have I been out…" Riley slowly trailed off as he opened his eyes and got a good look at the she-wolf before him. She looked beautiful and stunning and when she turned to him he got a look at her crystal-blue eyes, making his cheeks turn pink. In a rush to hide his blush from her he quickly stood up, however he stood up too quickly. His weak legs wobbled vicariously as he tried to support himself on them.

"Woah, take it easy there. You've been in a coma for a week. You lost a substantial amount of blood and you are very lucky to be alive, any more blood loss and you would be dead." She said as she pushed a bark slate with a mixture on it over to him. "This will-"

"-Dull the pain, yes I know. I'm a healer too and thank you" Riley smiled as he licked up some of the mixture.

"So you are a healer, just like Kate and Humph said. Oh, that reminds me, those flowers are from Kate." She added motioning towards some flowers behind him.

_Wait a second…did she say Humphrey and Kate? Well, Humph and Kate but still…_

"What!? Kate and Humphrey? Is this Jasper Park?" He asked wide-eyed.

"Haha, yes it is. After Garth and Lilly brought you here, Kate and Humphrey were astounded to see you when they came to visit me the next day. They told me all about you and how you helped Humphrey when he got badly injured and for that, I'm truly grateful. I'm Sam by the way." She smiled gleefully. "Humphrey and Kate have been my best friends since we were pups so I wouldn't bear it if one of them were hurt." She added.

"Nice to meet you Sam, I'd love to chat a little more but right now I feel a little faint" he said weakly.

"I'm not surprised, you should probably get some food in your system. How about I get Kate and Humph to come by while you get some fresh air?" she asked.

"That would be nice…" he trailed off as he suddenly felt really sick. "H-hold on a second" he said as he quickly rushed outside and threw up in a nearby bush. Sam followed him out to see him breathing heavily and leaning against a tree.

"You all good now?" she asked as she came up next to him.

"Y-yeah…I th-think s-so…I just n-need a drink" he stuttered weakly.

"Okay, come with me" she said as she led him towards the lake that was just across from her den. "Ok, just wait here, I'm going to go get Humphrey and Kate." She said as she walked off, although Riley couldn't keep his eyes off her as she went.

"She's a nice wolf…" he sighed, slightly dazed. His head was pounding and his stomach was making him feel nauseated from not having anything in it.

He was about to continue lapping up water before he heard something behind him. He looked up to the side to see a large, muscular older wolf with black fur walk up to Sam's den. He watched as the wolf looked inside, obviously looking for her. When he couldn't see her in there he turned around and saw Riley and came up to him.

"Have you seen a hot girl with fur like yours around?" the wolf asked him in an irritated manner. He had a deep voice that seemed to be laced with malice.

"N-no" Riley mumbled weakly. He knew he was looking for Sam, but the way he described her made him feel angry.

"Ok then twerp" the wolf said before running off.

_That's terrible how he described Sam…she's not hot she's beautiful _Riley thought. However he froze when he realized what he just thought. He blushed as he realized he called Sam beautiful.

"You're hopeless, you only just met her" he said to himself laughing as he continued to lap up water.

* * *

Sam approached Humphrey and Kate's den before she called inside "Is it safe for me to come in?" she called mockingly.

Both Humphrey and Kate's voice could be heard "SHUT UP!" before Sam laughed and walked in.

"You're a piece of work, aren't you Sam?" Humphrey sighed, laughing.

"You know me, can't resist a good joke" Sam giggled.

"So what brings you here?" Kate asked. "How's Riley doing?"

"Actually, that's why I'm here. He's woken up but is quite weak which is probably because he's hungry. He just threw up as well, also most likely because he's hungry." Sam said.

"Oh, that's great! Well, not the throwing up part but it's great that he's awake! Can we come see him?" Humphrey asked happily.

"Yeah sure, we'll just grab some food for him on the way." Sam said as Humphrey and Kate rose to their feet, excited.

When Humphrey and Kate had first come to visit Sam at her den they were, to say in the least, shocked to Riley's presence. They were happy to see him again but then they realised that there was only one reason he would be in Sam's den, which had made them rather worried.

**_Flashback_**

_"Come on Humphrey, let's go see Sam." Kate said as she attempted to wake him up._

_"Mnmnuugghhh" he moaned, still half-asleep with his eyes closed._

_"Humphrey!" she said irritatingly before she giggled and dove on top of him._

_"Oof" Humphrey groaned when she landed on him, sending them tumbling on the ground. When they came to a stop, Kate was on top of him and staring into his eyes._

_"Get up! It's midday already you sleepy-head!" she said as she kissed him. You could say that the kiss motivated him but whatever it was he got up and stretched his legs, ready to attack the day._

_"Alright let's go" he said as they both walked out their den and towards Sam's. _

_Soon enough they reached the lake and looked across it to see Sam's den in the distance. They came around the lake and soon stopped in front of her den._

_"Hey Sam, can we come in?" Kate called._

_"Just a second, I've got a patient in here at the moment" Sam's voice came from inside the den. They waited outside for a few seconds before Sam appeared at the front of the den. "Ok guys, let's go take a walk." She said as they turned off to the left and walked around the lake._

_"As we were saying yesterday, Humphrey and I both met this amazing wolf while we were in Sawtooth. He was this awesome healer and he has higher than delta-level training." Kate said._

_"Wow really? That's pretty cool. What was he like?" Sam asked._

_"Well, he was quite sociable for a lone wolf and he's our age too. As we said yesterday, Humphrey got injured pretty badly and the wolf fixed him up really well. He even cured Humphrey's sprain!" Kate exclaimed. "He seemed like he was lonely, he'd never met anyone his age before." She added._

_"Yeah and I didn't even know there was a cure for sprains apart from rest! It felt weird as he fixed it though." Humphrey said._

_"Really? That's incredible! How did he do it? I've actually been researching how to fix sprains myself…has it got something to do with massaging the affected muscle?" Sam asked._

_"Actually, yes. How did you know?" Humphrey asked._

_"Well, I told you I've been researching it." Sam replied. "What's his name?" she then asked._

_Kate turned to Sam "Oh that's right, his name's Riley. He has fur just like yours too. Although, what's really remarkable is his eyes. He has these cool-looking blue eyes that have a purple tinge to them. They're the most unique eyes I've ever seen" she said before adding "Although I love your plain ice-blue eyes more Humph" as she turned to him._

_"Aw thanks dear" Humphrey said. "Anyway Sam, do you think you can make it to our wedding?" he said but Sam had stopped. "Sam? What's wrong?"_

_"Guys…you know the lone wolf that I told you Garth and Lilly had found nearly dead?" Sam asked with a look of surprise on her face._

_"Uh…yeah…" Humphrey replied. "What about him?" _

_"Well…the wolf you described to me just now…matches perfectly with the wolf in my den" Sam replied._

_Humphrey and Kate exchanged looks before they turned back to Sam._

_"Show us" they both said._

**_Flashback Ends_**

And so when Sam had showed them Riley's comatose body, they both almost fainted with grief. However now that he was OK they were ecstatic to see him again.

They were almost to the feeding grounds when the black wolf came up to Sam.

"Hey babe" he said seductively to Sam.

"Ugh…what do you want now Liam." She replied. Kate and Humphrey had stopped to look at them. Sam turned to them "You guys go along and get some food and I'll meet you at my den"

"Ok, see you there" Humphrey replied as they walked off.

"Hey, I just want you to come to the next moonlight howl with me" Liam smiled greedily.

"Like I said for the moonlight howl for Garth and Lilly's wedding, no." Sam replied exasperated. The moonlight howl was an event where wolves all came hang-out at a large rock in the centre of the now-united packs on the night of a full moon, or pack event such as a wedding. Liam had always wanted Sam's body but the law prevented him; an Alpha from ever being able to try. Ever since it was abolished he'd asked her to go to it although all he really wanted was to sleep with her. Sam knew he just wanted to have 'fun' with her so she had always turned him down. However it was getting rather annoying that she had to put up with this.

"Oh come on, I know you'll have a good time with me" he replied, the lust practically rolling off of his tongue.

"Exactly why I _don't_ want to go with you. Good day" she replied as she went to walk past him, but he stood in her way.

"You will take up my offer one day…" he said but she just pushed past him.

"Unlikely" she called back before she walked off to her den.

He turned away and walked off furiously. "Just wait until you come into heat…" he smiled to himself. "You'll be begging me to fuck you".

* * *

Sam was walking back to her den when she saw Kate and Humphrey, each with some caribou in their mouths.

"Did he try to get you to go out with him again?" Kate asked through her muffled jaws and Sam nodded. "Don't worry about him. He's just a pervert he's not going to do anything to you" she reassured her.

"Yeah I know but today he seemed a little more forceful…" Sam said.

"Oh well…we're here for you in case he gets out of hand" Kate reassured her.

"Thanks guys. You're the best" Sam replied as they came upon her den. "Oi! Get out here we got you some food" she called to Riley, who now walked out the den.

"Hey guys" he said as he walked outside. "I'm a little banged-up, as you can see but I made it here" he smiled weakly.

"What the hell happened to you dude!" Humphrey said as he dropped the caribou leg.

"Why don't we come inside and have a chat? Bring the food inside so we can sit down" Sam interjected, motioning into her den.

"I think you'll find this most interesting…" Riley said as they all walked into the den.

* * *

**A/N**

**First chapter of Part Two. Tell me what you think in the reviews.**


	12. Part Two: Elucidation (2)

**A/N**

**I write using euphemisms, meaning if there is no reason for there to be bad language then there won't be any bad language. Which in turn means that if you see bad language, it's there for a good reason.**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#2 Elucidation**

* * *

"So, tell us what happened. Your wound is a very serious one and I think I speak for all of us that we want to know how you got it…" Sam said.

Riley took in a deep breath and everyone knew this was going to be a long story. "Alright. Well, it started a while back when I was born. I was born in the Nome pack to the pack leaders Dawn and Rain. I had a brother and his name was Balto. A few weeks after Balto and I's birth, disaster struck. Our pack was attacked by a clan of wolves known as the "Revolution". I do not know much of the aftermath, for my brother and I were whisked away by my mother at the first signs of danger. My mother ran and ran to get us both as far away as possible from danger, however little did we know we were far from it. We were attacked by a large bear; my mother trying and failing hopelessly to defend Balto and I. She ended up dying and my brother was knocked into a river trying to defend her. I never saw him again. Before the bear could get to me however, I was saved by a brown wolf by the name of Luke. After killing the bear he took me in as his own and he trained me to my skill set today."

"Yeah and Luke was the one who invented the cure to sprains and he taught Riley" Humphrey said to Sam.

"This Luke fellow sounds like an interesting person…where is he?" Sam asked.

"Well, I'll get to that." Riley replied before continuing. "Anyway, Luke and I had a peaceful life and one day he went to visit some friends of his and I took a jog to Sawtooth National Wilderness; the same place that Humphrey and Kate were relocated to."

"To re-populate no doubt, which they'll be doing a lot of once they're mates" Sam said to Humphrey and Kate with a wink before she laughed, making Riley burst out laughing.

"SAM!" They both exclaimed, irritated and embarrassed.

"What?" Sam replied innocently before noticing the blush on Humphrey and Kate's faces. "Your faces say it all" she giggled.

"Wait…you guys got the law abolished?" Riley asked once he'd stopped laughing.

"Oh yeah that's right, we didn't tell you yet. We got the law abolished and Kate and I are getting married on the next full moon in about a week or two. You're invited by the way, and so are you Sam." Humphrey said when he turned to her.

"Awesome!" Riley said. "I'm happy for you two. Anyway, on with the story?" He asked.

"Yeah sure." Sam smiled.

"Ok well, after I met Kate and Humphrey at Sawtooth by Kate jumping on me", Riley said accusingly looking at Kate, who just poked her tongue out at him before he continued, "I fixed up Humphrey's ribs and sprained paw then we became friends. After we met two odd birds who showed Humphrey and Kate how to get home, I was left alone. I jogged back to where Luke and I were and all was well. Unfortunately the night before I arrived here in Jasper, disaster struck once again when Luke had tasked me to find a rare medicinal plant called the Sturt Desert Pea and when I got back…things weren't so swell. The Revolution had been looking for me to assassinate me." He said receiving shocked expressions from them.

"What!? What happened next?" Humphrey asked.

"Luke and I came to Sawtooth again where we'd be safe but halfway up a mountain we were jumped by some highly skilled wolves and the next I knew it, he had tumbled off the cliff and into the river with the one of the wolves. I went down to find him but I was intercepted by the re-enforcements, forcing me to run away from where Luke was. I heard the train coming and I had to make a hard decision; to either stay and maybe die, or leave to return when it's safe." Riley sighed. "Although, I can't return yet until I've healed…" he trailed off sadly.

"That's horrible! You've been through so much…I can't believe how some wolves are just so detrimental to others…" Sam said sadly. "But still, how did you receive that incredible wound?" she asked.

"After I got on the train, I was unaware of a wolf who'd followed me. He ripped open my artery, before…rolling in my blood. It was sick…" Riley said disgusted.

"That's disgusting…this Revolution is bad news. What do they want?" Kate asked.

"They want to take out all the other packs which is why they wanted me dead, being the heir to my pack and all. I'm not sure if they are going to extend their reign this far, but you should be aware that it may be a possibility. Your pack leaders should be aware of this possible danger" Riley said.

"Alright then, why don't Kate and I go tell them now?" Humphrey asked as he and Kate got up. "Kate's dad may want to question you about the Revolution though." He added.

"OK then, I'm also in your territory so I should perhaps let your leader know who I am" Riley said as he got up.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sam asked raising an eyebrow and Riley stopped. "Whilst you are my patient, you're under my jurisdiction. You aren't going anywhere until you've healed." She smiled.

"What?" Riley groaned. "Fine…Kate, Humphrey? Can you guys let your pack leader know I'm here if he wants to talk to me at all?" He asked.

"Sure thing" they replied before they left.

"Okay, now that they've left we can get down to business." Sam said. "You need some of this, this and…this" she said as she got out several of the mixtures he had seen before.

"Really? I'm a healer I think I should know-" but Riley was cut-off by Sam sticking a piece of bark in his mouth.

"Shush. Your cut is infected and you need some medicine" she said as she grabbed a piece of bark with a mixture on it before taking the other piece out of Riley's mouth and stuffing the one with mixture on it in there instead. "Swallow" she said sternly.

Riley groaned inwardly before he complied. _This is going to be a long day…_

* * *

"I think we should set up here for the night" Balto called as he looked at the sun. It was only mid-afternoon and they had a good two hours of light left but when he had looked earlier, he couldn't see any other suitable place for them all to camp.

"Ok" Jenna called back, who had just scouted ahead as well.

"Why are we stopping?" Marcel asked. "We still have plenty of daylight. We've been doing this for ages now, we left almost a week ago! You wolves are slow!" he added.

"Well, we can't just fly off if we are attacked by say, a bear. We wolves need to camp down in a good position so sometimes we just have to lose time to be safe." Balto replied.

"Paddy, Marcel, since we have plenty of time do you want to go and have a game of Golf?" Boris asked.

"Sure, why not" Paddy smiled.

"I wouldn't mind a game" Marcel replied.

"Alright you guys make sure you're back here by nightfall" Balto said before Paddy, Marcel and Boris took off.

Balto and Jenna were left alone in the silent clearing, listening to the silent wind as it coursed through the trees.

After a week of travelling together, Balto had been mildly shy and he stuck near Boris so he wouldn't be caught alone with Jenna. Balto wouldn't hear the end of it from Boris otherwise.

"Hey Balto, take a walk with me" Jenna called from behind him. He turned to see her smiling and motioning to a path that lead away from the clearing. Balto felt his cheeks burn as he stood up and walked towards her.

"Sure" he smiled as they walked down the path together.

"We're getting closer to your brother. How do you feel?" Jenna asked.

"Well, it's definitely exciting. I'm so happy that I'm finally going to get to see him again, I just hope he'll recognise me." Balto sighed.

"Oh come on, how could he not recognise that handsome face of yours?" she giggled, making him grow silent as his cheeks flare again.

They continued walking for a while until they found a crystal clear river, running smoothly and slowly to a presumable waterfall downstream. Balto smiled deviously as he got an idea that he hadn't been able to do in Alaska. Over in Alaska, the climate made it snow almost all year so it was always freezing cold. However, now that they were in Canada, the climate was warmer and there wasn't any more snow around apart from the snow on the mountains. Which means that Balto could now be very cheeky without any risk of hypothermia.

He waited until they were up against the bank of the stream before he turned to Jenna.

"Hey Jenna?" he asked as she turned to face him. "Watch your STEP!" he shouted as he leaned into her, making her gasp as she fell into the water.

When she came up, Balto was laughing so hard she could swear he was going to run out of oxygen.

"Watch YOURS!" she laughed as she jumped up and grabbed him. Balto wasn't expecting this and before he knew it, he found himself underwater.

When he came up, Jenna was laughing and she splashed him with water. "You're a bully" she laughed.

"I'd been waiting to do that for ages" Balto replied, grinning ear-to-ear and earning himself another splash of water.

* * *

After swimming for a while, Balto and Jenna soon came out of the water and shook themselves dry. Balto looked at the sun to see how much longer they had.

"Hey Jenna, we still have an hour or so. What do you want to do?" He asked.

"Let's go back to camp" she replied. "Do you want to watch the sunset with me?"

He thought about this for a moment before blushing. "Uh…yeah. Sure" he replied as they both started walking back to camp.

After they'd returned they found a nice grass area in which they both laid down on, facing the sun as it approached the ground with night in its wake. Jenna watched Balto as he looked at it, seemingly deep in thought. She decided that she'd waited long enough.

She waited until it seemed he was completely deep in thought before she pounced on him, making him gasp in surprise as they tumbled across the ground before they came to an abrupt stop with Jenna standing above him and him on his back.

He looked around for a second to see what happened before he realised the position he was in with her and blushed.

"J-Jenna-" he began but she shushed him with a sly smile.

His eyes widened when he saw her leaning in before she planted her lips delicately upon his, his heart skipping a beat. He was tensed but after a couple of seconds he relaxed and melted into the kiss, enjoying every minute that it attacked his senses. By the time they had broken the kiss, the sun had gone completely down and the sky was cloaked with stars that glistened in their eyes.

As Jenna leant back away from his face she was smiling deviously.

"Enjoy that did you?" she giggled.

Balto couldn't really respond for fear of his voice failing him so he just rapidly nodded up and down, to which she could only giggle to.

"You want some more?" she asked teasingly.

"Y-yeah!" he replied quietly, his voice filled with excitement. His heart was pumping fast as yet again their lips connected, only this time it was passionate right from the start without any doubt or fear involved. Just love, passion and affection.

Jenna felt Balto's forelegs wrap around her, pulling her closer to him. She loved the feeling of being pressed up against his body, she felt warm and loved. Deciding to spice things up Jenna shifted her weight to the right and making them roll over, bringing Balto up and on top of her as they continued to kiss passionately. After reluctantly breaking their kiss for air, Balto stared into Jenna's eyes.

Words weren't needed for them to know the others feelings towards each other so there they sat in silence, before both of their faces grew large smiles on them and they started to laugh.

"Having fun are we?" Boris asked as both he, Marcel and Paddy landed.

Balto quickly got off Jenna and turned to them. "Good to see you are back from Golf by the time I told you too" he said although he was flustered.

"Humph" Boris just shrugged as he walked off to get some sleep with Paddy and Marcel following.

He turned back to see Jenna right in front of him.

"Aaah!…Jenna, you scared me, don't do that" He sighed looking from side-to-side.

She giggled before she leant in and whispered in his ear. "Want to sleep with me tonight?"

Balto was taken aback by this question and his eyes went wide, a blush forming on his face. "U-Uh…o-o-ok…" he stuttered.

"Alright then" she giggled as she walked by him, running her tail underneath his muzzle as she did.

He followed her over to the grass as she laid down and made herself comfortable. When she looked back at him she saw him standing their awkwardly, blushing.

"Come on, I won't bite" she giggled.

He quickly went over and laid down near her, making himself comfortable. Jenna, seeing as he was nervous to sleep with her, moved next to him and curled up into him.

She giggled when he tensed up awkwardly. However, soon enough he put his arm around her and closed his eyes.

"Goodnight" he whispered with a large smile on his face.

"Goodnight" she replied in kind.

* * *

**A/N**

**Awwww…please leave a review if that made you feel vulnerable to your emotions ;)**

**Remember to follow/favourite as you wish, and have a good one!**


	13. Part Two: Indignum (3)

**A/N**

**My very first story, "Our Journey" only made it to 19k words before I deleted it. It was shameful. I shun it. We have just hit about 40k with this story :D. So, in recognition for their help along the way, I would like to personally thank each of the following people for helping motivate me as well as keeping up those healthy reviews :)**

**section8bypass1, FanOfHumphreyAndBalto, m336, LoverWolfs1121, Joei Write, Johnwolf234**

**Reward for best reviews: FanOfHumphreyAndBalto (seriously, just go and look at how in-depth this legend reviews)**

**Oh and by the way, we just hit 1k views on the story :D**

**Now, enjoy this chapter in peace. And then review. I'm going to start a "Featured Review" at the end of each chapter for the previous chapter for the most in-depth and thought-provoking review.**

**Please don't let FanOfHumphreyAndBalto win every time…because he will…(seriously, just look at his review for chapter 10. IIIINNNNN-DEEEPPTTTHHHHH)**

**WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY AND GET ON WITH THE FLIPPIN' CHAPTER.**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#3 Indignum**

* * *

**Ok, fine I will get on with it.**

**DON'T WRITE OUTSIDE OF THE A/N!**

**Sorry…**

***facepalm* You idiot, now you're inside the story….**

**I-**

**Just shut up already, now I'm going to have to plonk another line break under this. ANOTHER LINE BREAK! SEE WHAT YOU'VE MADE ME DO?! NOW THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO IMPLODE BECAUSE OF YOU!**

* * *

**On a more serious note, let's get on with the story without any more abrupt comedic A/N's.**

There was a cool demeanor about the sun today. Maybe it was the grey clouds that surrounded it, threatening to pour its contents upon Jasper Park. It was early morning and not many wolves were awake yet, apart from two healers in Sam's den. Seeing as Riley was currently cooped up there healing, Sam thought it was wise that she should learn as much as she could from him. He'd already taught her about several different remedies that she hadn't heard of for both pain relief and miscellaneous sicknesses, now he was telling her about fixing sprains.

"So what you need to do is push the affected muscle with just the right amount of force, let go, then do it again rapidly." Riley told Sam as he held up his paw, showing several places to push to heal sprains.

"So that's how you do it. I was right about the applied pressure to affected areas, but I didn't think about speed or repetitiveness" Sam replied with a wide grin on her face. "Thanks, you're an amazing healer."

"My mentor taught me everything I know, he's the one who invented many of my practices. You should thank him, if he's still alive that is…" he trailed off.

Sam noticed that Riley looked a little down and frowned. She couldn't stand seeing people in any negative emotion, and tried her best to help them in any way she could. That's just who she was.

"Hey, come on. Don't be too hard on yourself, he'll turn up. You just need to have faith" she said, smiling a warm smile. Normally her smile would cheer anyone up from depression or sadness, but with Riley there was a different sort of reaction. He seemed even more shy and timid than he was before, shuffling his paws unconsciously and not being able to make eye contact with her for extended periods of time. _How odd…_ she thought.

She was about to ask him why he was depressed when Winston walked into the den. Both she and Riley looked towards him as he greeted them.

"Good morning Samantha, how are things today?" Winston asked smiling.

She rolled her eyes at his remark. Even after all the times Sam had gone round to Kate's den for dinner or sleepovers Winston still calls her by her full name, despite an immense amount of pleading from her to not do so. Now it was a running gag between them, although Sam still wished he called her "Sam" instead of "Samantha".

"Good morning...Winston…what brings you here? Well, I have a good guess that it's something to do with Riley here so why don't you sit down?" she asked.

"Gladly. In fact, I came here for a few different reasons. Firstly, I would like to finally meet you…" He said turning to Riley, "…Riley. I'm Winston, the leader of this pack" Winston smiled.

"Nice to meet you Sir, how do you know my name?" Riley asked.

"Well, Kate and Humphrey have told me a lot about you. You helped them get home safely and I am deeply grateful for that." Winston replied.

"Oh, it was no big deal really…" Riley replied shyly. "I'm sure they told you about your potential…problem…did you need to talk to me about it?"

"Yes. In fact, I came to ask you several things but I'll leave less trifling matters to last. Now that we're done with the pleasantries, I need you to tell me all that you can about this "Revolution"." Winston asked.

"Of course, I'll tell you everything you need to know." Riley replied.

* * *

After about an hour of informative discussion, Winston was left in a slightly shocked and aggravated state.

_These wolves pose a serious threat to my pack…I must hold a meeting with the highest ranked Alphas… _Winston thought. _For now I guess I should ask him._

"Thank you for your cooperation with me, you've shown a good deal of intelligence in the way you've relayed your information on the "Revolution" with me." Winston said to Riley. "Now, I'd like to ask you a serious question. I know what you've been through, so I can understand if you don't accept but if you would like to you are welcome to join my pack."

Riley went wide-eyed when he heard Winston's proposition.

_Join his pack? This is what I've been wanting; friends and other people. I'd be able to be with Humphrey, Kate and Sam every day; my only friends. This is a brilliant opportunity for me…however I can't just forget about Luke…_ Riley thought frowning.

Winston could see his cause for concern before he smiled warmly. "If you decide to join I'm sure Humphrey and Kate would be delighted to see you with us. I'm sure you're thinking a lot about your mentor so if you would like to, I can arrange for a search party to help locate him?"

"Really? You'd do that for me?" Riley asked astounded.

"Of course. How could I not offer my help to you after you've helped my daughter and future son-in-law so much?" Winston smiled.

_ That's right, this is Kate's father _Riley thought.

"Ok, I'd love to be a part of your pack." Riley replied grinning. He was so happy that he could finally be a part of a pack and gain what he'd always wanted.

"That's wonderful to hear. Before you can officially become a member of the pack I would like you to choose a rank." Winston said.

"Wait, you mean I get a choice?" Riley asked and Winston nodded. "Well, in that case can I be an Omega?"

"Of course. I do know that you're an experienced healer so if Sam would allow it you could also take up the profession with her." Winston replied. "Let's just wait for her to get back so we can ask her."

It seemed that Sam had picked the opportune moment to return; she'd left half-way through the meeting to go get Humphrey and Kate so that they could all have breakfast together.

"Ask me about what?" Sam called as she came through the den entrance with Humphrey and Kate following.

"Perfect timing." Winston said before he turned back to Riley. "You can tell them if you want" He said.

"Sure" Riley smiled as he looked at Humphrey and Kate. "Guys, Winston has asked me if I would like to join your pack."

"What did you say?" Humphrey asked.

"I said yes!" Riley grinned.

"That's awesome bro! But where are you going to stay?" Humphrey asked.

"I can arrange a den for him. Why don't you show him around the territory Humphrey? He's decided to be an Omega so you should tell him what he needs to do." Winston interjected before he turned to Sam. "Sam, Riley has something to ask you as well."

"Oh ok. What do you want?" she asked Riley.

"Well, Winston has given me the option to be a healer. I need to know if you'd be OK with that." He replied.

"Oh is that all?" Sam smiled. "Of course you can, you still need to teach me everything you know." She winked.

"Oh of course I will, thanks Sam" Riley smiled back.

"Not a problem but do you have a place to stay seeing as you've joined the pack?" she then asked.

"Yes I'm arranging for him to-" Winston began but was cut off.

"-Nonsense. No need he can just stay here for now like he has the past week." Sam replied.

"W-What!?" Riley blurted out, blushing.

"What's wrong? You're still healing and under my care so don't think you're off the hook." Sam laughed.

"Whatever…" Riley said, looking away.

"Okay then…Sam could you let me know when Riley is out of your care so that I can arrange for him to get a den?" Winston then asked.

"Sure, that won't be a problem. I'll keep you posted." Sam replied. "Now, what say we go get ourselves some breakfast?"

* * *

Two lust-encrusted eyes watched greedily as Winston, Riley, Humphrey, Kate and Sam left the den. The eyes watched as they found their target; Sam. The wolf smiled and licked his lips as he looked at her slim body, knowing that soon enough it was going to be his. He watched them as they walked towards the feeding grounds before noticing that the new wolf who was injured was talking to Sam, making him growl angrily.

"That wolf just thinks he's so special doesn't he?" The wolf said to himself as he saw Sam and Riley share something and laugh. "Why won't she laugh at anything _I_ say? She'll learn soon enough." He smiled before he heard something behind him. He quickly stopped looking, turning around just in time to see Hutch walk out of the bushes.

"Good morning Liam. How are you?" Hutch smiled.

"Oh I'm good thanks Hutch, I was just going out for a morning stroll I go out to get some breakfast" Liam replied in kind.

"No problem, I'll see you around." Hutch said as he trotted along and soon enough he was out of sight.

"Now why do I doubt that?" Liam asked himself. "After tonight I don't think you'll see me ever again" he laughed menacingly.

* * *

After a long tiring day of showing Riley around Humphrey and Kate had retired to their den, leaving Sam and Riley to return to Sam's den. However after being cooped up in Sam's den the whole time, Riley was sick of not being able to get out and about. After today's tour around Jasper he felt much better but wanted to explore a little more.

"Sam…I've been stuck in your den since I came here do you think I'd be able to go for a walk?" he asked her as they walked around the lake.

"Hmmm…I don't see why not." Sam smiled. "Just be back in about an hour" she added but he was already on his way.

"Okay, see you then" he called back.

"Seriously…" she muttered to herself before she looked up and saw a wolf standing in her way. "AH. Oh, Liam, it's just you" she said.

"Hey Sam, how are you this fine evening?" He asked charmingly.

She rolled her eyes as she tried to walk around him. "I'm fine and I'm _not_ going to the moonlight howl with you." She replied but he stood in her way.

"That's OK, I'm not going to pressure you anymore. In fact, I just came to say goodbye" Liam said sadly.

"Goodbye? Where are you off to?" Sam asked.

"Well, let's just say I'm tired of this pack so I'm leaving." He replied.

"Ok well goodbye then, I've got things to do." She said.

"Oh I'm not leaving yet, I just wanted one more thing." He smiled.

"And what was that?" Sam asked quizzically.

"Your virginity."

Sam's eyes widened at what he said. "_What_? You're disgusting Liam just leave me alone." She said, backing away.

"Nope. I'm going to fuck you and there's nothing you can do about it." Liam grinned lustfully as he advanced towards her. "And I wouldn't think of trying to fight me with your little Delta tactics of yours either, I was a Delta in my previous pack. You should just accept it."

_What…Delta? No way _Sam thought. _If that's true, he's much stronger than me I can't take him._

Sam made a decision quickly as she dodged Liam; trying to grab her. She took off as fast as she could, making Liam snarl angrily as he chased after her.

_I have to get help _Sam thought as she ran as fast as she could. _Let's hope I'm faster than him because I live too far away from everyone else._

* * *

Riley was about to head on back to Sam's den when he heard something. It sounded like someone was running. He turned around to see Sam bowl right into him; she'd been looking behind her and didn't see him in front of her.

"Sam…what's wrong? What was that for?" Riley asked as he got up, wondering why she'd ran into him.

Sam said nothing when she looked behind her and quickly got behind Riley.

"Sam?" Riley asked, puzzled. He turned to see the wolf that had asked him about Sam earlier. "Good evening…what seems to be the problem?" he asked the wolf.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little runt who lied to me the other day." Liam laughed. "This is just too good…"

"What do you want…" Riley asked.

Liam just laughed at his question before he looked at him seriously. "I want Sam. Now if you get out of the way, I won't hurt you…too badly."

Riley growled at his demand. "No. Leave us alone." He said.

"I will kill you…" Liam threatened.

"Do it then" Riley challenged as Sam looked at Riley in shock.

_What are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed!_ She thought. She knew he was highly skilled as a healer but had no idea if he'd had any combat training or not.

Riley then looked to Sam and looked her straight in the eye. Sam looked deep into his eyes and suddenly felt reassured for some reason. It was if the eyes read _it's OK, everything is going to be alright._

Riley turned back to face Liam as Liam growled and sprinted towards him, fangs bared. Unfortunately with Riley still weak from his injury and not knowing that Liam was a Delta, Riley didn't account for Liam's burst of speed and he was rammed hard onto the ground and away from Sam.

Liam laughed as he turned to Sam. "Pathetic…" he said as he slapped Sam and pushed her so that she had her rear to him. He smiled as he held her down.

Riley got up and turned to see Liam jumping and mounting Sam, his eyes widening. Something snapped in him and he got up growling and rammed right into Liam, knocking him off of her.

Liam was stunned shortly but as he realised what happened, he turned and growled angrily at Riley. "YOU PIECE OF SHIT I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled as he ran full-pelt towards Riley.

Riley, with his anger fuelling him, easy side-stepped the enraged wolf and with one mighty paw struck Liam in his side where he was left vulnerable. Liam's eyes widened as he realised that he'd been struck before he turned around and ran back at Riley, even more enraged that before.

_Checkmate…_ Riley smiled.

_Thud._

Liam's mouth slowly opened as he gasped for air; Riley's paw had struck on Liam's pressure point in his throat, effectively blocking off his air supply.

As Liam convulsed onto the ground, Riley ran to Sam. "Are you OK?" he asked but he couldn't do anything as she just tackled him, crying. She was too distraught to talk so Riley just gently stroked her fur, telling her that everything was alright now. Sam looked up from Riley's fur to see Liam finally stop convulsing. He was dead. Suffocated.

She then realised how close she'd been to being raped and thrust her head back into Riley's fur, her tears soon drenching his chest.

"Shhh….shhh…It's alright now" Riley said soothingly as he continued to stroke her fur. "You're safe."

* * *

**A/N**

**Ooooooooh…interesting…**

**If you enjoyed then PLEASE leave a review! If you are following the story and haven't left a review yet then please do so! It really REALLY DOES HELP! **

**Have a good one guys ;)**


	14. Part Two: Brilliance (4)

**A/N**

**So, I got another chapter done on camp (last chapter was written on camp too) so I hope you favourite/follow/review the story please ;)**

**Enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#4 Brilliance**

* * *

After the events of the night before, Sam and Riley had been in the main den with Kate and Humphrey. Riley was OK but was worried more so about Sam and how she was coping because after all, she was the one that was almost raped. Not him. After crying into Riley's chest for a while Sam had seemed to calm down enough to walk although she had still been sobbing slightly. They had gone to Humphrey and Kate's den to try and get Sam to calm down.

**_Flashback_**

_It seemed that after a while Sam had stopped crying into Riley and was able to get up._

_"Shhh, come on let's go find Kate and Humphrey." Riley soothed._

_"O-o-ok…" Sam sobbed as Riley helped her get up. They started walking back to Humphrey and Kate's den although Sam was leaning on Riley still because she couldn't stand by herself. _

_As they walked past Liam's cold, dead, body Sam shut her eyes and turned her head into Riley's fur again. Riley couldn't stand seeing her like this and cursed Liam for the pain that he'd caused._

_Soon enough they had made it to Humphrey and Kate's and Riley called out softly "Humphrey, Kate, could you please come outside I need your help". It was still dark night outside so Riley hoped that they were light sleepers. _

_After a couple of seconds he heard a groan, before Humphrey came into view from the depths of the cave. "What's wrong?" he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Riley didn't have time to answer before Humphrey saw Sam crying and his eyes widened. "Sam what's wrong…are you hurt, is everything OK?"_

_"She can't really talk right now…" Riley replied for her. "She came very close to being raped."_

_"WHAT!?" Humphrey exploded, waking Kate up as well. "Why? Who? When was this?"_

_"About an hour ago; Sam couldn't move because of the shock. It took me a while to finally get her over here" Riley replied reading Humphrey's face._

_Kate had come to the entrance of the den now, wondering what was going on, before she saw Sam and quickly scuttled over to her. "Sam what's wrong, did something happen?" She asked as she quickly embraced her._

_"I-I-I…" Sam stuttered, still sobbing. She still couldn't reply._

_"She was nearly raped." Humphrey said._

_"WHAT!?" Kate exploded, much like Humphrey had. "Who was it?" she asked. "I'll kill him."_

_"I-it w-was Liam…and no need K-Kate" Sam smiled weakly at her friend's defensiveness._

_"That dirty bastard. Wait what? Did you take care of him?" Kate asked._

_"N-no…Riley did…" Sam replied, looking at Riley who just smiled meekly. "If he hadn't of b-been there Liam would have…r-raped me…and have been gone already…"_

_Kate turned to Riley and hugged him tightly. "Thankyou so much…" she said._

_"It really wasn't much…" Riley replied. _

_"Of course it was! Stop being so humble…Liam was a Delta. My father told me. Speaking of my father, we should go to the main den and report to him what has happened." Kate said._

_"I can agree with that" Humphrey chimed in._

_"Come on let's go to the main den now" Kate said as they turned to leave however Sam couldn't get up after she'd sat down. She was still fairly weak from the trauma. Fortunately Riley had come up to her and helped her up._

_"Thanks" Sam said to him as they all headed towards the den._

* * *

_"WHAT!?" Winston exploded._

Goodness, that makes a third _Riley thought. _

_They had just told Winston about the attempted rape and he was furious._

_"WHERE IS HE NOW?" Winston demanded._

_"He's dead, Dad." Kate answered._

_"What? Who killed him? He's a Delta and he would have been stronger than Sam." Winston said._

_"Um…I-I did…" Riley interjected. Seeing Winston's look of bewilderment he digressed. "After I saw him attempt to…you know…something just snapped in me. I couldn't help it…he was a monster…" he said._

_"I don't care that you killed him, he was a nuisance to this pack the minute he got here. I was just surprised that you were _able_ to kill him." Winston replied._

_"Well, I had training by my mentor." Riley said._

_"Ok. Then thankyou for saving Sam from him." Winston said before he turned to the rest of them. "You're all welcome to stay here for the night, Eve isn't here at the moment because she's gone out."_

**_Flashback Ends_**

Riley was sitting at the entrance of the main den and turned when he saw Sam walking out. "Good morning" He greeted her.

"Morning" she replied before sitting down next to him.

"Are you OK?" He asked her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm better now, thanks to you" she smiled.

Humphrey and Kate had just woken up and decided to join them.

"Morning" they both said as they walked out the den entrance.

"Morning" Sam and Riley replied.

"How did you sleep Sam?" Humphrey asked. He was worried about how Sam was coping with the entire ordeal.

"Yeah, I guess I slept pretty well thanks to Riley." She replied making Riley blush again.

"What do you mean by that?" Humphrey raised an eyebrow.

"I woke up in the morning to find Riley, right up next to me." Sam giggled.

"Hey, it's not my fault I move during the night!" Riley countered.

"Then why'd you sleep so close to me in the first place?" It was Sam's turn to raise an eyebrow now.

"W-Well…uh…I thought…" Riley stammered but he couldn't think of anything and Humphrey, Kate and Sam started laughing. "Shut up…" He blushed.

They all continued laughing for a while and before long Riley joined in too.

"You know, how about you guys come over for the night hmm?" Kate asked after she'd stopped laughing. "We haven't done that in a while and I think it'd be fun!" she added. Of course Kate did want to have a sleepover because she hadn't in a while, but the _real_ reason she wanted one was so that she could keep an eye on Sam to make sure she was alright. The whole incident would make any wolf traumatized.

"Sure…I haven't done that sort of thing before so you can count me in" Riley replied.

"Great, what about you Sam?" Kate asked her as she turned to her.

"Yeah sure. That'd be fun." She smiled.

Kate's smile grew wider as she move over near Humphrey. "That's fantastic! Alright, I'll see you all at our place tonight." She said before the two of them left for breakfast.

It was silent for a bit before Sam spoke up.

"I guess I'll see you there then…and thanks Riley" She smiled as she leant in and gave him a hug. He accepted the hug graciously as he smiled warmly. "For everything."

"No problem Sam. If you ever need anything, and I mean _anything_, just let me know." He said.

"Well of course, you are still living in my den remember…" Sam laughed.

"Oh, yeah…" He blushed. "Anyway, uh, can I go out today and just have a little walk around? I won't do anything strenuous at all." He asked.

"Sure. How about I just meet you at Humphrey and Kate's den?" She asked.

"Ok then, I guess I'll see you then." He smiled before looking back in the main den. "Hey would you happen to know where Winston has gone?"

Sam seemed to think for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "I honestly have no idea where he's gone, although I'd assume he has gone to find Eve or something." she replied. "Oh and by the way, if you didn't know already, Eve is Winston's mate and Kate's mother." She added.

"Oh ok, I didn't know that. Oh well I guess I'd better get going if I want to make it the whole way around the territory so I'd better get going" Riley smiled as he walked off. "See you soon" He called back.

"Ok bye" She replied. Sam sighed when she realised she was left alone. "I suppose I'd better get back to my den then…" she muttered to herself.

She then made her way to her den and soon enough was going along the lake when she looked across the calm and still waters.

_Why do I feel so…happy…around Riley _Sam asked herself. As she watched the wind slowly move across the top of the lake, a sudden realisation hit her. _I…'like' him _she thought, making a blush form on her face. Then another thing hit her. _He's living with me right now! _ Her eyes went wide and her blush grew bigger. In fact, Sam was surprised with herself for her realisation. Ever since she'd been a part of the pack when she was a pup, she'd never actually 'liked' anyone before. Sure, she'd had a crush on other pups when she was a pup but that wasn't _real_, it was just silly talk with Kate. She'd never had any deep feelings for anyone before, besides Humphrey and Kate as friends. Although with Riley now a great friend, her feelings may develop even more for him. He not only seemed to understand her what with being a healer too, but also as a friend and as a comforter. After the traumatic experience the night before, she hadn't been able to control herself and just sought comfort from him when she cried into his fur.

_I wouldn't mind having Riley as my mate…_ she thought before she realised what she was thinking and stopped dead. She hadn't thought about anyone like that before. She then grinned widely and felt a great deal of happiness surge within her. _Could he possibly like me too? Maybe I should ask Kate and Humphrey about it _she thought as she happily walked back to her den.

* * *

"So, how did Riley kill Liam? I thought Liam was our best wolf." Eve asked Winston, who was trudging along next to her. They were both on their way to find Liam's body so Eve could grasp a sense of what had happened. Riley hadn't returned with any injuries, so they wanted to know if he actually had fought Liam and it hadn't been Riley who had attempted to rape Sam. Eve suggested that idea although Winston disagreed with it; he knew Riley and knew there was no way he would ever even try to do something like that. Eve hasn't met Riley yet, and has only heard stories about him and Winston knows that she wouldn't have suggested it if she'd met him. Besides, Winston being the wise old wolf he was, could see the chemistry that was occurring between the two young wolves and knew Riley wouldn't have dared do anything like that.

"Liam _was_ our best wolf. Not anymore, I believe Riley falls under that category now. It's just too bad he decided to become and Omega and not say, a Delta or Alpha." Winston replied. "At least he's going to be a healer and he is a _brilliant_ healer. So I've been told by Sam, Humphrey and Kate." he added.

"I'll be the judge of that" Eve said. Winston was about to reply but as he looked ahead he saw something on the ground; a wolf.

"Eve, look. There he is." Winston said as he moved for a closer look and without a doubt, it was Liam. "Why don't you look him over dear, see if you can tell what happened."

With that she walked over to him to find that Liam must have had a scared look on his face when he died; his eyes wide open, filled with fear and his mouth twisted in an unheard cry for help. "Winston…come here." Eve called. She already knew how he'd died and had pictured the whole fight from the amount of damage on Liam's body and how much Riley was hurt, in which Riley was unscathed.

"Yes dear?" Winston said as he walked around Eve and up to the body. "What happened?"

"Well, you might find this weird but the cause of death was suffocation; lack of air." She replied.

"What's so weird about the fact that Riley strangled him?" He asked.

"It's weird because he wasn't strangled; there are no lacerations or bruising on the neck whatsoever." She replied. "All the evidence shows that he simply…stopped breathing peacefully. It's not from that wound on his side either, that's not enough damage to kill him."

"Well…that _is_ weird…we may have to ask Riley about what happened." Winston said.

"He might not tell the truth remember? He might have been the culprit and Liam could have been trying to save her." She said.

"No, that's not a possibility." Winston said sternly. "Sam would have said something and she wouldn't have been leaning on him and crying into him. Riley is the most aware and caring wolf I know, beside Sam, _and_ you're forgetting he's the one who helped Kate and Humphrey get home." He added.

"Well you didn't mention that, did you now?" Eve rolled her eyes.

"Sorry…I forgot." Winston chuckled weakly.

* * *

**A/N**

**So, another chapter done and dusted :) I think you'll like the next chapter.**

**Please leave a review because not only do I always give off my free time to write (which I enjoy so that's not really a reason to review) but I'm actually giving off my free time _on camp_ in which I could be playing table tennis or being social :P oh well just please leave a review.**

**Have a good one ;)**


	15. Part Two: Temporum (5)

**A/N**

**Soz 4 teh weight _translation = _Sorry for the wait. I've been a little bit preoccupied.**

**Enjoy this chapter anyway and please leave a review :)**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#5 Temporum**

* * *

The day had gone by much like any other, with most of the pack keeping to themselves with the sun slowly leaving their view. Riley watched as the sun neared the ground, bringing its cloak of darkness with it. After leaving Sam at the main den to trek the territory, Riley had done just that and put his orienteering skills to use; mapping an image in his head of the territory.

_I wish you could be here Luke…I will come find you soon._

"I guess I should go to Humphrey and Kate's now" he muttered to himself.

* * *

Whilst Riley had gone to explore around the territory, Sam had gone back to her den to check her supply of medicinal plants and herbs. Unfortunately for her she was out of pain-killer herbs that she used on Riley, so she had to go out and collect some more. After she'd collected them all and brought them back to her den, she'd organized them and put them all into the right places so that she'd be organized when another patient came in that she'd have to look after.

_Today's been a long day, but I'm looking forward to tonight_ Sam thought as she reflected on the day. She then looked at the sun and saw that it was fast approaching the ground. _I think I'll head over early so that I can have a chat with Kate and Humphrey._

So as she did just that, she was walking by the lake in front of her den. "Maybe I should just clean up a bit first" she said to herself, walking over to the lake.

Sam didn't really believe in pampering herself to make herself look pretty, she just believed in being herself and that she shouldn't have to do anything to herself to try and look any better. Not that it was hard for her; she was naturally beautiful.

Even though she wanted to look amazing for Riley, all she did was wash herself and brush her fur. She was one of those wolves who would sit back and laugh their arse off as she watched other wolves endlessly try to make themselves look perfect. It was just such a waste of time. If you wanted to look nice for someone, you don't have to go to all the effort of making yourself look better. Others should love you for who you are, not your outward appearance. If Riley truly loved her then he wouldn't care for her appearance, so in turn, she wasn't going to care for it either.

Hygiene was another level entirely. She just washed her fur to get all the dirt out and brushed it to keep it kempt and clean.

_Now, off to Humphrey and Kate's_ she thought cheerily as she made her way to their den.

* * *

As Sam came upon Humphrey and Kate's den, she could see that some grey clouds were rolling in and smiled. _Hopefully we'll have some rain tonight, that'll make some great background _she thought as she walked into the den.

"Anyone home?" she called.

"Oh, hey Sam" Humphrey replied. "Kate's gone out to get some food for tonight but she'll be back soon. What's up? You're a bit early."

"Oh…yeah, I just wanted to talk to you about something" she said.

"Oh yeah sure what is it?" Humphrey replied sitting down. Sam came over and sat down as well.

"Well…it's about Riley" she said and Humphrey's eyebrow went up.

"What do you mean? Has he done something wrong? Is he hurt?" He questioned.

"No, nothing like that…I…um, how do I say it? I…kind of, uh, 'like' him" she smiled meekly.

"Yeah he is quite the likable fellow isn't he? I knew you two would be great friends" Humphrey smiled.

"No Humphrey…" she said, Humphrey obviously not getting what she meant. "I…'like' like him…"

Realisation dawned on Humphrey's face as he comprehended what Sam just said, before a look of pure amusement came upon it and he burst out laughing. The same couldn't be said for Sam though, as only her blush rose in crescendo.

"Shut up! All the times I helped you with Kate you could be a least a little quieter!" Sam said sternly, although she sustained the blush and it seemed she couldn't get rid of it.

"O-ok…haha…fine". Humphrey replied, his laughter slowly dwindling down to a smile. "No but seriously, this is great. You've never felt like this for anyone before, well, not that I'm aware of."

"I-I know." She replied. "I haven't really liked anyone before, so I thought I would come talk to you and Kate" she added.

"What about me?" a muffled voice came from the den entrance as Kate came in, dragging in a large deer behind her.

"Oh hi Kate, Sam here was just sharing some _informative_ information." Humphrey said, raising his eyebrow and nudging Sam with his elbow.

"Oh shut it would you!" Sam replied in kind with a punch. Kate at this point was rather intrigued by what was up because Sam was rarely affected by much.

"Like what?" Kate asked as she sat down. Sam was a little hesitant to tell her because of Humphrey's reaction but she knew Kate would know eventually.

"Um, well…I sort of like Riley" Sam said shyly again. It was Kate's turn to now laugh at her friend's confession. Sam just rolled her eyes and endured it, that's what is expected when you tell your friends you've fallen in love with someone. "Last time I tell you guys anything…" Sam muttered.

"Oh come on we're just teasing you Sam, no need to get upset." Kate giggled. "This is awesome! The time I spent trying to get you a boyfriend…"

"Yeah, well I wasn't interested! Honestly you tried too hard…" Sam replied.

"Well I guess it paid off now didn't it?" Kate laughed.

Riley seemed to have chosen the most opportune moment to enter the den, wearing a smile on his face for the night ahead.

"Ok guys, I'm here now I hope I'm not too early" Riley said cheerfully as Humphrey and Kate greeted him. Sam on the other hand was frozen on the spot.

_Please don't tell me he heard any of that _she thought. _I swear if Humphrey and Kate tell him…_

"Hey Sam how are you?" Riley greeted her interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh, hey. I'm good thanks how about you?" she smiled back.

"Well, the weather's made a real turn out there and it's getting fairly choppy. In the middle of winter too so I'd expect some snow soon which is awesome" He smiled.

"Really? That'll be good for tonight." She replied. "Make for a good atmosphere."

"Yeah I know what you mean." Riley said before he turned to Humphrey and Kate. "So, what've we got planned for tonight?" he asked them.

"I have no idea what we're doing first up." Kate replied. "However I do know that later on we'll be going on a night walk outside the territory and the weather's going to make that awesome." she then shouted the end enthusiastically.

"Woah, calm down Kate" Humphrey laughed as he turned to Riley. "First up we're going to have some dinner and then we're going to play a few games."

Sam ears perked up and she looked at Humphrey with wide eyes. She shot an accusing glare at him, _you'd better not…_ it said. All Humphrey did was wink at her cheekily.

_Oh no…I'm so screwed _she thought. _Humphrey I'll get you for this later…_

"So, the sun's just about to set. How about we have some food in our bellies?" Humphrey asked.

* * *

After eating as much as they could, Humphrey, Kate, Sam and Riley's night of fun and games was now underway. Of course there was the weather joining in in the background; occasionally brisking up the wind loudly and making the trees creak heavily under the pressure.

They'd all been talking during dinner about how the weather was indeed great for a night walk even though most wolves wouldn't agree. They were all adventurous and actually preferred it when the weather was like as it was. The grey clouds that threatened to rain its contents upon the land seemed to be calling them when all the others would just curl up inside their dens, waiting for it to end.

"You can't live without being in the middle of a massive storm" Riley was saying as Sam looked at him disbelievingly.

"And when did you go out into the middle of a massive storm?" she asked him.

"Not too long ago actually, maybe last winter." Riley replied. "You could feel the rain hitting your fur and it was just amazing."

Kate looked at Humphrey and giggled as she remembered a storm back when she was a pup.

"I remember a storm I was in back when I was a pup" she started as everyone listened in. "So, I was out practising to hunt one day when these massive storm clouds rolled in and I was generally scared when it started to pour heavily and lightning began to crack all around me."

"What did you do?" Riley asked whilst Sam just listened; she'd heard this story before and she knew what happened. Humphrey just smiled.

"Well", Kate continued, "Turns out that Humphrey had _followed_ me out to where I was practising and when I was freaking out he came out and helped me get to the cover of an old den nearby." She then turned to Humphrey and punched him on the shoulder. "You creep" she laughed.

"Hey!" Humphrey countered. "I was just wondering where you were going, I was going to ask you and I didn't intentionally follow you like a creep."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say" She said as she kissed him on the cheek, making Humphrey blush that Sam and Riley could only laugh to.

"Alright, alright calm down." Humphrey said. "How about we play a few games now?"

"Yeah sure thing I haven't played like, ANY, games before so you'll need to teach me." Riley said.

"Alright then, let's get started then shall we?" He asked as he cast a sidelong glance to Sam.

_Please no…_ Sam thought as she saw the smile appear on his face.

"How about a game of…Truth or Dare?" he smiled, confirming Sam's suspicions.

_Dammit Humphrey _she thought. _I'll get you back you can be sure of that._

"How do you play that?" Riley asked, puzzled. He'd never heard of any games before although he did feel like doing something physical and strenuous. "Is it a physical game?"

"No, but do you want to play a physical game?" Humphrey then asked. "If you want, we'll play some active games now and finish off the night later with the other games?" He proposed.

"Yeah ok because at the moment I feel like doing something strenuous." Riley replied. "What did you have in mind?"

"How about some…Hide and Seek?" He asked and Kate's ears perked up this time.

"Oh really!?" Kate said. "I love Hide and Seek! I hardly ever got to play it since I was always practising hunting and stuff…"

"Yeah but all your hunting skills are the most impressive out of the whole pack remember? Well, you might have some competition now," he said glancing at Riley, "but at least your hunting skills are put to good use. That deer you caught for dinner was massive."

"Oh whatever, but where are we going to play?" Kate asked.

"I was thinking of playing it when we were on the hike so if you guys want to do that now and then come back afterwards, it's up to you." Humphrey replied as he look to them all.

"I'm cool with going now" Riley said.

"I'm all good" Sam chimed in.

"You already know my answer, so let's go then shall we?" Kate grinned cheerfully.

And so, as they left the den following Kate out towards the edge of the territory. The night was only just beginning and they were going to have great time of fellowship, fun, and also discovery. Discovery of what, however?

* * *

**A/N**

**Sorry for the wait, I've been very busy lately and haven't found the time to write. Another thing, I decided to scrap the 'Featured Review' (sorry) because I don't want you readers to be fighting for something; just review however you feel like :) **

**Bit of a cliff-hanger here but you'll enjoy he next chapter ;)**


	16. Part Two: Clarity (6)

**A/N**

**I'm thinking of doing a scheduled update time say, every Friday, but I think that could prove to make me feel pressured to release a chapter and rush it making it much lower quality compared to my regular work. I'm just going to say that the maximum time you'll ever wait for an update (unless plausible reason) is about 2 weeks. Let me know what you think of a scheduled update.**

**Anyway, without further ado please enjoy this chapter and leave a review :) oh and by the way, I hope you like science ;) more specifically, physics.**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#6 Clarity**

* * *

The group of four were led by Kate out of the territory and into the night, where the weather was making the trees creak in the wind and the clouds were dark and looming. They could tell that there would be rain that night but that didn't seem to stop them, if not encourage them further. If they were lucky they'd get a spectacular view of some lightning.

In the northern hemisphere there was a spectacular event that apparently happened during a rare form of lightning storm. Many were lucky to ever see it because after all, it was just a myth. The strange event was known as a 'Flash Phoenix'.

A star is born when masses of dust and matter in space are pulled together into a large gaseous form. When the form grows large enough the gravitational pull is so massive that it creates an event know as nuclear fusion, which is when two atoms are pulled together in a massive amount of force, causing the Hydrogen atoms to force together and become Helium atoms. The amount of energy this produces is six million times that of a Helium atom burning on its own. This is what is constantly happening in the Sun, and is how the Earth is both lit up and heated.

However there are some other effects of this on the Earth, as follows; when this reaction occurs and the hotter gases erupt from the core of the sun and spill out onto the surface because the Sun has no physical surface. What this does is sometimes fling matter towards the Earth and because there is no air friction in Space, the matter travels infinitely. The cool part is what happens when the matter reaches Earth with a newfound electron from being spewed out.

On Earth it is sometimes called the 'Dance of the Spirits', but is mainly known as the Northern Lights. The atoms with their single electron are positively charged and are drawn into the Earth's magnetic field, causing a brilliant display of colour to be visible. This is all instrumental in a 'Flash Phoenix'.

A 'Flash Phoenix' is when there is a specific molecule; ionized molecular nitrogen, in the Northern lights causes the colour to form into a blue spectrum. The second part is when a lightning storm at a very high altitude and the two mix together, forming a brilliant net of lightning that stretches across the sky. And since lightning is even hotter than the surface the Sun at thirty-thousand kelvin, the nitrogen is lit up into fire.

However it was only a myth and no-one alive had ever seen it, or so they say. Wolves didn't really know exactly what happened but it was still an event that was in their history.

"So, Humphrey. How exactly do you play this 'Hide and Seek'?" Riley asked as he moved up towards him, Kate dropping back to talk to Sam.

"Well you start off with a seeker," Humphrey replied, "the seeker will count to a given number depending on certain circumstances such as amount of players, scale of environment and skill level. Whilst the seeker counts to the number, the other players; the hiders, will go and hide from them."

"Oh I see and then the seeker goes and tries to find them?" Riley asked.

"Exactly," Humphrey replied, "then once everyone is found, the first person to have been found is the new seeker for the next game. You with me?"

"Yeah, yeah I get you," Riley replied, "this sounds fun I can't wait to play." Riley and Humphrey both heard a sharp giggle and turned to see both of the girls laughing at something one of them must have said. "What do you think they're talking about?" Riley asked as he and Humphrey turned back to each other.

"No idea" Humphrey replied as Riley turned back to look at Sam. She looked up at him and smiled, making him smile in return.

_Why do I feel so happy whenever I'm with all of them?_ Riley thought. _Maybe it's the sense of friendship fellowship that I didn't really have growing up. It's not just Humphrey and Kate though…it's not even mainly them. It's Sam; she's the source of my happiness and joy, but what does this mean? Am I really…_

_Yes… _a voice in his head replied.

_Wow…this is a weird feeling… _Riley thought as he felt his heart race. _Humphrey is with Kate; he has experience. Maybe he could help me._

"Humphrey," Riley began as he turned back to face him, "I need to tell you something, but you have to promise not to laugh."

"I can't make any promises buddy, but what did you want to tell me?" Humphrey replied.

"Well actually it's more of a favour to ask." Riley said as a meek look fell upon his face. "I…uh…I think I'm in love with someone." He chuckled weakly.

Humphrey just look at him with a sceptical look before a grin slowly started to appear on his face. "Really?" He asked.

"Uh…yeah. I wondering if you could give me a little help." Riley replied.

"Who? Who is it?" Humphrey asked.

"I…I'll tell you later." Riley replied, unconsciously shifting his vision aside. Unfortunately for him, he was experiencing a feeling that he hadn't felt before: Love. The feeling was making him feel vulnerable for some reason as well as making him a lot more timid and shy.

Humphrey noticed his retreat and laughed inwardly. _Hahaha, this reminds me of when I fell in love with Kate. I can't help him if I don't know who it is though…_

"Riley," Humphrey sighed, "I can't help you if you don't tell me who it is."

"Ok f-fine," Riley stuttered. _Wow I can't even talk right…_ He mentally facepalmed. "But you've got to promise you won't tell her."

"Again, lost cause with these promises." Humphrey said before Riley gave him a look. "Fine…so tell me."

"Well, it's…uh…Sam"

* * *

_Hmmm…looks like there's a massive storm cell over that way. I hope Riley's OK _a tan-wolf thought as he trudged along the side of a river, a light-grey wolf following.

After being washed down the river with Will, they were both knocked unconscious and the current had taken them a very long way away. And now _finally_, they could see the clearing.

"Hurry up, you'd better hope he isn't hurt." Luke said to the other wolf.

"Yes I get it, I don't need another description about how you're going to kill me if he is." Will replied. "I told you already, I don't want to fight anymore. I made some bad decisions because I was raised there it's not my fault."

"Listen, your newfound divergent doesn't matter if Riley is dead. If he was killed by any of your wolves, you will pay for it." Luke replied.

Will couldn't argue with that. If Riley was dead, it would be strictly his fault. He felt regret for splitting them up and attacking them, it had to stop. That's why when he had finally came to on the side of the river with Luke about to kill him, he'd made a decision.

_"I give up." Will said simply. "I'm sick of all this fighting so if you are going to kill me, kill me."_

_"What the hell do you mean? Why did you join the Revolution if you feel this way?" Luke yelled._

_"I didn't join the Revolution, I was born there. I had no choice and I knew nothing about the way of life." Will replied. "I've had enough, the oppression is sickening and there is too much death. I am deeply sorry for what has happened, I really am and I want to make this right."_

As they approached the Sawtooth clearing there was an eerie silence about it. There was just the wind coursing across it, the trees dancing to the wind and the grass swaying in time with it all.

"I doubt he's still here" Will's voice intruded Luke's thoughts.

"Where do you think he is then? Hmm?" Luke replied angrily. However as he turned to face Will, he saw what seemed to be two wolves in the clearing and one of them was Riley.

He wasted no time running towards the two wolves full-speed but something didn't seem right. He called out but as he got closer he found out that it wasn't Riley, it was just a wolf that looked remarkably like him.

It too him a while to notice that the wolves were staring at him strangely. But then again, he did just run like crazy towards them.

"Umm…are you ok?" The one that looked like Riley asked. The other wolf had a blood-red pelt with a white underbelly and was a female.

"Oh, I'm sorry…I just thought you were someone else. I'm Luke by the way." Luke replied. He'd just intruded the two wolves' privacy, so it was best for him to be nice and well-mannered.

"That's okay. I'm Balto." The wolf replied. "This is my friend, Jenna." He said motioning to the red she-wolf beside him. However another thought occurred to him and decided to make use of this encounter. "Actually would you happen to be a local around here? I'm looking for someone who was supposed to be here but these two," he motioned to a duck and a goose behind him, "forgot to tell me that he could've moved from here."

"Hey!" Paddy interjected, "How would we know? He probably went with Humphrey and Kate to Jasper Park!"

"Don't forget that he had his mentor to get back to though you fool" Marcel told Paddy.

"Oh," Balto said, "and that's Paddy and Marcel."

During this conversation, Luke could just stand wide-eyed. _Humphrey and Kate? Marcel and Paddy? Jasper Park? Are they looking for Riley as well? _Luke thought.

"Excuse me but could you please name and describe the wolf you are looking for?" Luke said calmly. "I might have seen them around." He added.

"His name is Riley, he looks exactly like me but has blue eyes with a unique purple tinge." Balto replied "Have you seen him?"

_Who are THEY is the matter at hand now and why are they looking for Riley…_ Luke thought.

"Now, I might ask you this," Luke said before looking directly at Balto, "how exactly do you know my student and why are you searching for him? It may be coincidence or just that we happened to converge at the same point in time and space for just this reason…"

It was Balto's turn to feel the shock of Luke's words. _This wolf…_ he thought before he gritted his teeth.

"What have you done to him!?" Balto yelled. "How do you know him!?"

"Calm down…I'm not an enemy of you nor Riley. I took Riley in after his mother and brother were killed by a bear and I guess you could call me a father figure." Luke replied calmly. "I trained him and looked after him until two weeks ago when we were split up by this guy" he added motioning to Will, who just sat there silently hoping non-one would attack him. "It's your turn to tell me who you are now…so who are you?"

Balto was now standing there mouth agape as Jenna too listened in understanding at what Luke had just said. And now as he finally pieced together the puzzle, he sat down and smiled.

"I'm Balto; Riley's brother."

* * *

**A/N **

**Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think :)**

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	17. Part Two: Define (7)

**A/N**

**You know, I felt in the mood for writing more so as soon as I finished the last chapter I kind of just flowed into this one :)**

**We just hit 200 reviews! Great job reviewers!**

**Please enjoy this chapter ;)**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#7 Define**

* * *

Shock struck for a second time on Luke. His face, wide-eyed and alert.

"W-what?" he choked out. "No…he said you died trying to protect your mother…"

Balto just shrugged and looked off to the side. "I'm not sure about that, but I did get this nasty scar from the bear hitting me into the river." he said, indicating the scar on his side.

"I see…" Luke trailed off in thought.

_So, Riley's brother survived. Who would've thought? Now we've just got to find Riley together_ Luke thought.

"Marcel, Paddy and Boris can lead us to Jasper Park. If you would like to join us, you're welcome to." Balto said.

"Ok then, I'll go with you. Thankyou, and it's nice to meet you Balto." Luke replied, shaking his paw. "You're coming too" he added aside to Will, who just shrugged and followed.

"Not like I have anywhere else to go."

* * *

"HA! I knew it!" Humphrey said, much to Riley's discomfort.

"Oh shut it already it would you," Riley replied, "anyway can you give me some advice…this is new to me."

As they continued along Riley found out that Humphrey's information wasn't very helpful, yet somehow eye-opening. All Humphrey had been able to tell him was to follow your heart and your head.

Humphrey, deciding that they'd gone out far enough, stopped at a clearing with a large mountainous structure on the edge and a waterfall running down it. There were trees, rocks, hills and water everywhere.

_Perfect_ he thought.

"Alright, this looks like a great place to play," Humphrey called out to them all, "so are you guys ready?"

"Yeah!" They called back.

So, the stage was set. Humphrey was going to be the seeker first; he was the most professional out of all of them there. Humphrey counted and Kate, Sam and Riley all ran and hid somewhere. Kate; a tree. Sam; in deep grass at the top of the mountain. Riley was perhaps in the most unique position that decided where the win would go; behind the waterfall.

It was just a hunch but when Riley walked past the waterfall he could hear it resounding somehow and with only about ten seconds before Humphrey would start to find them, he jumped in the water and went behind the waterfall to find a large cave-like structure.

_I think I've got this one in the bag _Riley thought with a smile.

Humphrey found Kate first; he knew her scent the best out of them all and found her easily. Sam was found equally fast because neither of them had staunched there scent in any way. Riley's scent however was a little harder to find because when Humphrey had found it, it was drenched with the smell of water. He followed it around the whole clearing until he finally decided to look behind the waterfall and lo-behold there he was.

"I can't believe I didn't check there first…" Humphrey said. "Could you not have hidden somewhere easier to find?"

"Nah, after all. I won didn't I?" Riley laughed.

They continued to play for while into the night until finally they had decided to call it quits and set up for the night. The weather was too choppy to go back as it was quickly getting windier and began to rain heavily.

They'd retreated inside the cave that Riley had found and tried to get warm by huddling close together.

"I think it's high time for another game now don't you think?" Humphrey asked after they had all settled. "How about we play a game of Truth or Dare?"

"Sure" they'd all replied. Sam was eager to play because it was fun, but she knew that Humphrey was going to pick on her. What she didn't know however was that he now had two targets he could get in one fell swoop.

And so, they played for a while having to tell truths and do dares but the night was quickly coming to a close. How they'd played was it would go around in a circle of turns. Humphrey would Truth/Dare Kate then go around the circle again and Truth/Dare Sam, and the next time Truth/Dare Riley. This would continue around the circle for each player.

"Alright guys," Humphrey said after he just finished his turn, "we'll finish on my next turn then we'll quieten down a bit."

"Ok then. It's my turn," Kate said, "Truth/Dare for Humphrey"

"Alright then…" Humphrey said.

_Ok, I know on Humphrey's next turn he's going to Truth/Dare Riley, Kate will Truth/Dare Humphrey and Riley will Truth/Dare me _Sam thought.

"Ok Humphrey, Truth or Dare?" Kate asked.

"You know what? I think for the last call we should make it dares only. What do you think?" Humphrey asked and everyone nodded in approval. "It's settled then; Dare."

"Ok, I dare you attempt a back-flip into the water." Kate said, making Humphrey go wide-eyed.

"Damn it…really?" he asked and she nodded her head. "Alright then, I'll do it" he said as he walked up to the pool of water entering the cave from the waterfall. As he turned around he looked back at them all. "If I die I blame you all" he said weakly.

Kate, Sam and Riley all just rolled their eyes and watched as Humphrey jumped backwards, turned, and fell into the water on his head with a _splash._

When he came up everyone was sitting there laughing. "Oh shut it would you?" he laughed. "I'll get you back for that."

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say." Kate laughed. "Ok Riley," she said looking to Riley, "You're daring Sam"

"Yep." He replied. "Ok Sam," he said looking towards the waterfall, "I dare you to run out there and swim a lap of the lake."

"Urgh…fine," Sam sighed, "but I don't want to die of hypothermia so one of you can warm me up when I get back."

They all watched her as she walked up to the entrance of the cave and Sam, giving one last smile back at them, dove into the water with another _splash_. About a minute later she came up again, although her eyes were wide from the freezing water. "And…t-that's why we _don't_ g-go swimming in the middle o-of winter" she stated as she moved over to the others. "Who's going to warm me up?" she then asked.

"Riley dared you," Kate spoke up, "so he can."

"Alright then," Sam replied as she moved over to Riley, "I hope you're resistant to the cold".

With that she plonked down right next to him before he could react, her wet fur instantly making him shiver. "Did you have to?" He asked as he looked at her accusingly.

"Yes," She laughed in reply, "you shouldn't have dared me that then."

Riley could only roll his eyes. "Yeah well you're warm enough now and I'm all wet and cold, so consider your payback done," he sighed, "besides, it's your turn to dare Kate."

"Yes, yes mother" Sam laughed mockingly as she got up and sat back down across from them next to Humphrey.

"Why didn't anyone warm _me_ up…" Humphrey muttered, looking at Kate. "I jumped into the freezing cold water too."

"Don't look at me!" Kate exclaimed, "You've already done that to me once, and besides, you didn't ask."

Humphrey just sighed and looked next to him to Sam. "It's your turn"

"Yeah I know," Sam replied, an evil smile appearing on her face, "ok Kate, I dare you to kiss Humphrey"

"Come on, it's not as daring as when Humphrey and I hadn't been together," Kate said, "Give me a harder one."

"Alright then…I dare you…to not touch Humphrey for the remaining duration of this trip." Sam said.

Kate sighed as she looked apologetically to Humphrey. "Sorry Humph, I probably should have taken the other option."

_YES! Got them both _Sam thought.

"Alright then, looks like we're up to our last dare," Humphrey said as he eyed Sam in annoyance. He had to get her back for that and he knew just how to do it. "Riley…are you ready?" He asked, smiling mischievously.

"I'm ready" Riley smiled back however nothing could prepare him for what came out of Humphrey's mouth next.

"I dare you to kiss Sam." Humphrey said as he watched both Riley _and_ Sam blush incredulously.

_I shouldn't have mentioned it before! _Sam thought irritatingly as she and Riley looked at each other. "We have to…" she said, as much as it embarrassed her to say it. Riley on the other hand, was taken aback.

"I-I…uh…" Riley stuttered, struggling to find words of any logical reasoning.

_I can't even speak right._ _What am I doing, I have to…kiss…Sam…_ he thought making him blush even harder, if it were possible.

Sam could see this was going no-where and though she was feeling a sense of embarrassment, she could also feel a sense of excitement. She _wanted_ to kiss him, for him to kiss her. Though it was funny watching Riley become completely astonished, she would probably have to act on this dare rather than him.

So she smiled as she advanced towards him, making his eyes go wide. "S-Sam-" he began but before he could say any more, his lips were cut-off by hers. His heart rate rose as he realised that he and she were now _kissing._

What was going through Riley's head at the moment was quite hectic. _I'm kissing S-Sam… _he thought. He was so smitten, he couldn't even think without stammering his thought. He was like a pup, going through his first crush. He'd never kissed anyone before, not even his own mother. Soon enough, he let his eyelids fall and he just enjoyed it.

When they finally broke after what seemed like an eternity, Sam stepped back and sat back down in her position with a mischievous smile.

Riley however, was not in such a stable state. He sat there in shock, letting out the pent-up breath he had within him. Humphrey and Kate observed this with humour as they sat there, finally releasing their laughter.

"HAHAHA!" Humphrey laughed, "YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACE!"

Riley was embarrassed to no extent and Sam, Kate and Humphrey were all ecstatic. He just sat there for a while, contemplating what just happened but before long they'd all calmed down. Sam broke the moment and asked a question.

"Riley…" she said with a smile growing on her face, "was that your first kiss?"

"U-Um…well," he nervously shuffled his paws, "don't laugh, but…yes"

"Good, because that was mine too" she replied with a wink, making him blush again.

"Alright come on now we've all had our fun," Humphrey announced, "but it's time to settle down now. Why don't we tell a few stories?"

* * *

The night was growing old and soon enough it would become morning. After expressing stories of their youth and the fun times, they were going to tell some old lore stories.

"Have you heard of the Wolves of Legend?" Humphrey asked and they all shook their heads. "Oh come on, really? Fine. I'll tell you guys a story of them…and this is a true story"

And so, Humphrey took on the best story-telling voice he could, and began the story.

_On the third day of creation alongside creating the lands and vegetation, God created four wolves to keep the peace of all living things before creating the rest of the animals on the fifth and sixth days. These wolves possessed incredible knowledge and intelligence and watched over the world for generations. Their names were Fang, Claw, Whiskers and Howling. _

_All was well, until the peace was disrupted by a demon named Darcia who changed himself into wolf, breaking the laws and rules that had governed the world. He wanted to go to a place where only wolves could go: Paradise. Paradise was a place that God had set aside for the wolves for their great deeds, and was bountiful in many ways, much like heaven. In a final showdown, the wolves defeated Darcia but at great cost. The youngest of the four wolves, Howling, was killed by Darcia when he sacrificed himself to save Paradise for the other wolves; if Darcia had jumped into Paradise and Howling hadn't stopped him, Paradise would have been destroyed. Howling didn't want that to happen and so, for his all friends' sakes, died for what he believed in. Wanting to honour their friend's wish for them to be happy, Fang, Claw and Whiskers carried on to Paradise, leaving Howling's soul to wander the lands, still protecting living creatures from harm._

_Some say that today you could still see Howling, often appearing in visions and dreams, when they were in times of danger._

_When Howling lost the ability to go to Paradise, he had changed his name to a different translation. Since Fang, Claw and Whiskers were all watching him from above, they also honoured their fallen comrade by changing their names as well. Fang, the white Arctic wolf became Kiba, Claw, the strong Grey wolf, became Tsume, Whiskers, the yellow Mexican wolf, became Hige, and Howling, the timid Red wolf, became Toboe._

_As Toboe could no longer get to Paradise, his friends gave him a silver ring each which represented their friendship. He always wore these rings on his right fore-leg, as a reminder of how much they missed him and wanted him with them. _

"Believe me, this is a true story," Humphrey said, "It was passed down in my family for generations and is all I have left of them."

Sam and Kate were sad to hear about Humphrey's family again, with him having his family ripped away from him somehow. Sam knew how he felt as well, not knowing where her father was. Her mother had died giving birth to her. Even so, Kate and Sam were still sceptical about the story being true or not.

Riley could only sit there in shock. He'd met Toboe, and Toboe had saved his life. He matched Humphrey's description completely; three silver rings on his right fore-leg, a Red wolf that was even named Toboe. Sam noticed him sitting there frozen-stiff and wondered what was the matter with him.

"Riley, what's up?" she asked. "Are you ok? You don't look so good."

He just looked to Humphrey with the shocked expression still on his face. "Humphrey…is telling the truth. This story is real," but he only got more sceptical looks from Kate and Sam. "The night I arrived here, half-dead, Toboe had saved my life."

* * *

**A/N**

**So there we have it…a cliff-hanger ending. Goodness, so now we know about the past from Humphrey's history lesson. Be sure to leave a review to tell me what you thought of the chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcome, anyway, have a good one :)**


	18. Part Two: Inception (8)

**A/N**

**So, maybe this experience was good for the story. I lost the original copy of this chapter at 1800 words which was a big fall for me. But the thing is, when I got back up I got back higher than before. More determined. I just bought a journal/notebook that I've written 7 pages of storyboard in already. About 3 chapters worth xD. Anyway, enjoy this chapter ;)**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#8 Inception**

* * *

"Well, we go back to the night I arrived here." Riley said as he took a deep breath; the memories were flooding back. "So, we go back to when I'd escaped on the train. I was wounded by Farrell, the psychopath, who was waiting for me to bleed out. Anyway, I fell unconscious and I had a vision. A wolf, exactly as you described, approached me and told to me hang in there and that his name was Toboe. Suddenly I felt all my strength come back to me and in one last attempt, I knocked Farrell out of the train and fortunately my fall was broken by him. Well, more specifically, his vertebrae. Then your friends had found me and I survived."

"Wow…that is insane!" Humphrey said. "That's just how the stories go. Toboe comes and steps in to help the wolf in need but in this case it is really weird; why would he step in to save you at the cost of another wolf's life?"

"I have no idea…that's the weird part." Riley replied but Sam was thinking.

"What if your life was worth more? What if you have a greater purpose?" Sam asked.

"I don't know…" Riley trailed off.

For a moment, they sat in silence, pondering the wonders of the world and why such a thing would happen before Humphrey spoke up.

"Ok guys…I think we should be getting to sleep now. We'll be making the journey back in the morning so it's good to at least get _some_ sleep." He said as he walked over to Kate, careful not to touch her, and laid down.

"I agree," Kate replied as she went from sitting down to laying down, "We could all use some sleep and we can chat some more in the morning."

Then it went quiet. Everyone had gone to sleep, and all that could be heard was the soft patter of the waterfall. Well, most of them were asleep. Riley couldn't get to sleep, nor had he been able to get any sleep since he arrived in Jasper. All he could think about was Luke and how he was faring.

Silently, Riley rose from his position and walked over to the water's edge before slipping into the water quietly and swimming under the waterfall. The cold water was refreshing, in a sense, even if he would be cold for the rest of the night. After passing under the waterfall he swam over to the bank of the lake and walked around it, then he walked up the side of the hill that led up to where the waterfall began. He walked over to the edge and look out across the clearing below.

_I wish you could be here now Luke…_ Riley thought sadly.

The rain was now pelting his fur but he didn't mind it, and the wind was moving the branches of the trees silently. He let out a mournful howl of sorrow into the night for his lost mentor before his eyes began to water. He looked down the waterfall and how it splashed into the lake before someone spoke up behind him.

"Are you ok?" Sam's voice rang out.

He turned his head slightly but didn't look at her; he didn't want her to see him in his current state. "I'm fine" he lied as he turned back to face the moon. He turned to his side to see the stream next to him, illuminated by the moonlight, and remembered a time when Luke had tried to teach him how to fish. He couldn't take it anymore and his tears began to stream down his face, but he kept silent. He heard Sam approach on his right, so he turned away slightly from her.

"Don't lie to me" Sam said sternly as she turned his face to look at her. As she saw his tears her expression turned to one of concern. Then, to Riley's surprise, she embraced him and held him close to her. His mouth opened in shock and he sat there stunned, before the weight of it all had finally registered.

"S-Sam…" Riley's voice wobbled as he trailed off and couldn't complete the sentence, his tears now flowing down his face, and he couldn't hold it in anymore. All his pent-up emotions were now overflowing, and he let them go.

Sam held him closer and stroked his fur gently as he cried into her fur. "Shhh…shhh, its ok" she whispered softly as Riley wept out all the emotions he'd held onto for so long. It was killing Sam to see him in such a state, she couldn't stand anyone being so gripped in depression and sadness.

His shoulders rocked as he sobbed, his tears falling into Sam's fur as she held his head burying into her fur.

This continued for a while before Riley's sobs eventually stifled to a soft snore. He'd fallen asleep.

Sam gently laid him down and looked at the wolf that was sleeping peacefully before her. However, she knew that inside his mind it was anything but peaceful.

_You poor troubled soul _she thought as she laid down and curled up next to him for warmth.

* * *

Riley opened his eyes slowly as the harsh light of the sun reflected into his eyes. _Ow…why is it so bright? _he thought before he felt something up against him. He got up and stretched quickly before he turned and found out that Sam had slept next to him. _Oh, that's right_ he thought as he remembered that Sam had approached him last night, dissipating the earlier confusion.

He looked at her and realised just how beautiful she looked right then. Her head was tucked slightly upside and she was laying on her side. The best part was the smile that was on her face, reflective of the one that he had on his own.

He walked over to the stream and began to wash his face. He stuck his head underwater, drinking a little at the same time, before he lifted his head back up and shook it gently to somewhat dry it. As he looked at the shining water he noticed that there was another shadow behind him but before he could do anything he felt a force from behind him, and was pushed back into the freezing water. _Why is the water so cold!? _he thought as he made his way back up to the surface where one wolf was laying on their back, laughing their arse off.

"Sam…" he groaned as he rolled his eyes before an idea popped into his head. While she was distracted and thanking the waterfall was only small and the current not so strong, he swiftly made his way up to the bank before putting Sam between himself and the stream.

She stopped laughing instantly as she looked up at Riley, now soaked, who had a mischievous glint in his eye. Her eyes widened, realising the position she was in. "You wouldn't…"

"I would" Riley laughed as he pushed Sam into the freezing water. If she'd screamed, he didn't hear it because of the fulfilling splash he heard following it.

However, only now did he notice why it was so cold when he looked down at his paws. _Snow_.

"Ha!" Riley shouted gleefully as he ran across the small area and rolled around in it as Sam climbed up onto the bank. "Sam!" Riley exclaimed. "It's snow!"

"So, you threw me into a freezing cold stream, during winter, _and_ after it's even been _snowing_?" Sam asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Didn't stop you, did it?" Riley replied back, laughing.

"I guess not…but I'll throw you in again!" Sam laughed as she raced towards him. A worried expression came upon Riley's face as she pounced towards him. He dodged, narrowly, as she passed by him but got straight up again and dived again. He was so caught up in how fast she was moving that he didn't even realise how close he was to the edge, and his paw slipped slightly on the bank. This caused him to lose concentration slightly and before he could react, Sam was right in front of him. "Aha!" She laughed triumphantly as she dived into him, knocking them both back into the freezing stream.

They both surfaced from the cold water as a realisation came to Sam. "Hey, Riley," she began, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course. What do you want?" he replied.

"Well, I just wanted to know a little more about you. How did you take down Liam?" she asked, making his expression change to one of confusion.

"Why would you want to know that? Won't that…you know…bring up bad memories?" Riley asked. He didn't want Sam to be swept in shock and sadness again, it burdened him to see that. _Even if the exact same thing happened to me last night_ he mentally hit himself. _Maybe that's what she needs to do, to unburden those emotions and talk to someone. _

"No," she replied abruptly, "I'm past it now. If Liam had succeeded, then that would have been a different matter entirely."

"You don't feel anything even from just that experience?" he then questioned.

"Well, I suppose you could say that it was traumatic. The thought of it still does make me a little queasy but not much. Thanks for asking though." she smiled. "Anyway, back to the original question, how did you defeat Liam?"

"I just…did." Riley replied. He didn't want to seem boastful, or to be seen as a braggart.

"Come on. You can tell me." she eased.

"Ok, fine." Riley gave up. "My mentor, Luke, taught me his own type of fighting that he developed." Sam was intrigued now. A special form of fighting that only him and his mentor knew, this was very interesting to her. "You might be able to relate to it." he added.

"What? How?" she replied.

"Well, it was developed through medical practise," Riley began, "It involves hitting Points of Access around the body with a specific amount of force to bring about effects such as; drowsiness, loss of consciousness, suffocation-"

"-That's what you did to Liam, didn't you?" Sam interjected. "You hit the point that made him suffocate?"

"Uh, yeah…but…I don't like to kill." Riley replied. Sam just smiled.

"Good. I haven't had to kill our own kind before and neither do I want to." She said. "I'm glad you feel the same."

"Luke taught me to never kill other wolves, unless it was in self-defence." he said as he looked around the white abyss and got an idea. "Hey, Sam. Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked.

She seemed to think for a moment before answering. "Humph and Kate seem to be sleeping in because they haven't come out to look for us, so why not." she replied, smiling.

"Alright then." He smiled back as he turned to the hill that led down from the top of the fall and gained an even larger smile. "This snow is going to really fun to run down. WOOHOO!" he shouted as he ran down the mountain that was completely blanketed in thick snow. How they hadn't frozen last night they'd never know.

As he made his way rolling and crashing through the snow down the mountain Sam could only roll her eyes and laugh. Then she joined him.

* * *

"Wow. This place looks amazing with all the snow, I wonder what the territory will look like." Sam was saying as she looked around her at all the trees that were covered with the cold whiteness. "This was a great idea." she added.

"I always like going on walks," Riley said as he turned to her, "walks give me a nice sense of serenity. I love to watch the trees sway in the wind. However weird that may seem."

"Ha, it's not weird," Sam laughed, "I love to as well."

Riley returned his gaze back to his surroundings as he smiled. Each day and every single minute he spent with her added to the urge to tell her how he felt. The previous night when she'd kissed him had only added to his attraction towards her. He now longed to feel that experience again, to feel her soft lips touch his own.

He blushed at his thoughts when something caught his eye. He looked closely at a tree that had some sort of form at its trunk. _It's a wolf! _he thought.

"Sam, check this out." He called as he walked over to the tree. As he got closer he could make out that the wolf was of pure-white fur, presumably an Arctic wolf, and was a female. "It looks like it has collapsed."

"Yeah, it looks like she's malnourished and exhausted." Sam confirmed.

"What should we do?" Riley asked.

"We should bring her back to the territory." She decided. "Come on, can you help me carry her back to the clearing? We're going to get Humph and Kate then we're heading home."

"Ok then." Riley replied as he went down to put the wolf on his back but as he made contact the wolf woke up and sprang into action, jumping away from them both and snarling.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" the she-wolf demanded, her ice-blue eyes glazed with fear.

"Woah, woah. Calm down, we just found you here and you were collapsed. You're malnourished and exhausted, we're only trying to help." Sam replied. "What's your name? Where are you from?"

The she-wolf seemed to stop for a moment before relaxing her stance, determining that Sam and Riley weren't a threat. "My name is Winter. As for where I'm from, I…I can't remember…why can't I remember-" she then stopped as her legs wobbled. "I…I don't feel so g-good." She moaned before she collapsed onto the ground again.

"Woah, is she ok?" Riley asked before he noticed the blood that was now seeping from her mouth. "Nope. She's not ok. Sam, I think she's been poisoned."

"Yeah, I agree. Judging by her symptoms of sickness, blood in her mouth and possible memory loss I'm guessing that it's Ma Huang." Sam said.

"Really? But, that doesn't even grow around here and who would want to poison her?" Riley thought aloud.

"I don't know, but if we don't get her the cure soon then she'll die." Sam said. "Go and get me some-" she started but realised she was talking to air; Riley had already ran off to get the plants and herbs for the antidote. She smiled to herself. "Well, it's good to know he's got good self-responsibility." she thought aloud.

* * *

Riley was now walking back to the clearing with the cured Winter on his back and Sam following. They continued along as something else caught his eye. "Hey Sam, what do you make of this?" He asked as he walked over to a tree with some strange markings on it. He looked as saw I was a heart-shaped object with the letters "R&amp;R" in it. "I wonder who this was?" he asked before he saw the names at the bottom. "Who's Rose and Rex?"

"I've no idea, but they must've really loved each other to express their feelings like this" Sam replied.

"Yeah…" he trailed off as they continued on.

* * *

Soon enough they'd made it back to the clearing where Humphrey and Kate were waiting for them.

"Where've you two been? And who's that on your back, Riley?" Humphrey shot the questions at them.

"We went for a walk this morning and found Winter, the wolf on my back, collapsed. We approached her then she woke up before collapsing again and we determined that she'd been poisoned." Riley said and just at that moment Winter groaned before falling off of his back. "Or you can just ask her yourself," He said before he turned to Winter, "how are you feeling? A little better?"

"Yes thanks…I think I can walk now." Winter replied as she stood up. "I…I think I'm remembering something…something about a…Revolution?" she asked herself making everyone perk up.

"What about the Revolution!?" Riley asked her. "Please, can you remember what happened? Where you attacked near here?" He asked, hoping the Revolution wasn't anywhere near Jasper.

"What? N-no…" she mumbled weakly as if she'd just woken up. It was clear that she was still exhausted from being poisoned, so they'd have to take it slow. "I remember that my pack, was destroyed. I…this is a long story…" she said.

"No, no, continue." Riley replied.

"Ok then, well, from what I remember back in my pack I was a part of a special task force unit to combat the Revolution's ploys. We'd been fighting against them for a while, but they couldn't breach our defences thanks to the intel we'd gain on our missions. One day however, everything fell apart. We'd been breached by one of the Revolutions spies; they'd joined our unit and gained our trust. Then, they brought us out, far away from out pack, then the Revolution's main army swept across our pack and destroyed it." Winter said.

"Wow…that is absolutely monstrous. Don't worry Winter, we're going to stop the revolution. But one thing I need to know here…what happened to the rest of your special task force?" Riley asked.

"As I said, the task force was brought away from the main pack. Only the spy was with us, and he poisoned our food. He poised most of them with Hemlock, and paralysed my team members. One by one, he slit all their throats as they sat there completely aware of what was happening but couldn't do a thing. He didn't poison me with the same thing, however."

"Yeah, we know. You were poisoned with Ma Huang. Why would he poison you with a different poison?"

"The answer for that dates back to one of our missions. It turns out that I'd killed one of his friends in a raid and he'd watched me kill them because he was a part of the team by then. He wanted revenge, so he poisoned me with the herb and made me suffer. Unfortunately for him however, I knocked him out and ran."

"Even whilst the pain was still in effect?" Riley asked. He knew Ma Huang was an herb that grew far away from where they were and contained substances that caused immense pain for the first duration of it being in the victim's system. The side-effects included memory-loss, lung damage and physical exhaustion. Sometimes it could produce hallucinogenic visions, too.

"Yes. It hurt, but I had to get out of there because he was about to kill me."

"Fair enough. Alright." Riley replied as he turned to the rest of them. "Are we going back home now?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Kate replied and they all began to walk home.

"Would you like to come with us Winter?" Riley asked.

"If you'll take me…I have no-where else to go." she replied. "And thankyou. I don't believe I've caught your names?"

"Oh, I'm Riley. This is Sam, Humphrey and Kate" Riley replied as he pointed to each of their party.

"Nice to meet you all."

* * *

"How long is this going to take?" Luke asked. "Why couldn't we take the train?"

"Because," Paddy replied, "The humans are currently on what they call "holidays" and aren't running the tracks." Luke just sighed. There was no point in getting angry, what good would it do?

"I just hope we get there soon…" Luke trailed off. "What are the chances your 'friends' had hurt Riley?" he directed to Will.

"Wait what?" Balto perked up. "Who hurt him?"

"Oh, well, I'm sure you've heard of the Revolution right?" Luke asked him. Balto just growled at the name. "Well," he looked at Will, "he was the lieutenant in charge of assassinating Riley."

"WHAT!?" Balto exclaimed as he turned to Will.

"Woah, hey…I'm not a part of the Revolution anymore…" Will backed away. "I do accept the responsibility if he's injured…"

"DAMN RIGHT YOU WILL!" Balto shouted at him as he returned back the front of their group, otherwise he'd end up punching Will.

"Hey…" Jenna came up beside him. "Calm down," she said as she nuzzled him, "He said he wasn't a part of it anymore, and Luke seems to trust him. He might be responsible if your brother is injured, but you can't just assume it's completely his fault. Lieutenant or not, he's given it up."

"You're right, but I can't say that Luke won't do something to him if he finds out Riley _is_ injured." Balto replied. "After all, he's closer to Riley than I am."

Luke then walked up beside him. "Will was born _inside_ the Revolution, Balto. He was only a lieutenant because he thought that was what was right."

"Really? Well, I guess that does change things a bit." Balto replied.

"It does, but he's still responsible for anything that happened to Riley." Luke replied. "I just hope he's ok…"

"Well that makes two of us." Balto smiled.

* * *

**A/N**

**I wrote this in two days. UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.**

**I'm tired. Now is the time to sleep. Please review, and have a good one ;)**


	19. Part Two: Mentality (9-I)

**A/N**

**When to end Part Two...**

**How to end Part Two...**

**How much do I want to mess with them...**

**These are the questions I ask myself. I have an answer to all three. Firstly, I would like to end it next chapter but it may not happen and is undecided. For obvious reasons I'm not going to say the answer to the second question. Thirdly, I want to mess with them (them; you, the readers) immensely. Soon enough your brains _will_ turn to mush. I'm NOT your regular author on this archive. Did you know, in my opinion, only 1% of all the stories on this archive are good? I can assure you, you will not have read anything like this story before on the A&amp;O archive. This story has an incredibly in-depth and complex plot that not many of you will understand. Feel free to PM me and ask questions. Also, this is going to be a _very_ long chapter in preparation for the next. This chapter takes up the rest of the storyboard I've written in my notebook. I would also like to thank everyone for your reviews, they are much appreciated.**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#9-I Mentality (I)**

* * *

"So Winter," Riley turned his head to look at the small white she-wolf beside him, "How much can you remember? Has the herb dulled at all?"

The five of them had been walking for half an hour, and were soon to arrive back in the territory. Despite Winter's recovery from the Ma Huang in her bloodstream, she had decided to continue along with Riley, Sam, Kate and Humphrey. She had no where else to go, after all.

"Oh, um...I guess I'm better now because I can...remember everything." Winter replied but grew a little teary eyed. Sam also noted the shyness in her voice, coming to a conclusion.

"Riley, come here" she said as she tugged him away from Winter a bit.

"Uh, what is it?" he asked, curious as to what she might want.

"Let me speak to Winter. You may not have noticed it, but the effects of the Ma Huang have been receding and she's become rather shy." Riley then raised an eyebrow sceptically, not understanding Sam's point. She rolled her eyes before continuing before realising it wasn't Riley's fault, he wasn't brought up in a pack where he would see the examples that she'd seen. "Riley, she's insecure about talking to guys. I've seen it before especially in Kate when she was a pup, it's fairly common."

"Oh...I see" Riley nodded. "In that case, you talk to her instead."

"Ok, I'll drop back to her and you stay up the front." Sam replied as she walked over to Winter. "Hi, I'm Sam." she smiled gleefully.

"Hi." Winter replied, still somewhat shy. "Thanks for helping me, you and your mate that is."

"No problem-" Sam smiled before she realised what Winter just said. "N-no, we're not mates..." she replied, a blush clearly evident on her face. "We're just good friends."

"Oh really?" Winter replied, "I would have thought so, you certainly both act like it." Sam seemed to think about her words for a moment.

_She's right...even by ourselves Riley and I do sort-of act like that- _Sam's thoughts were abruptly cut-off, her eyes wide. _Does this mean he likes me too?_

"Hello...? Sam?"

Sam was brought back to reality by Winter's voice.

"You know, I may not have known you all that long but I can see the chemistry between you two." Winter giggled, making Sam's blush increase. "Whenever you two are around each other your constantly smiling-"

"-Alright whatever." Sam interrupted, wanting to get off of the subject. "Now, anyway. I want to know more about you. Whereabouts did you come from?"

Winter then gained her same quiet face again as she stopped her giggling. It seemed to have brought up some bad memories, and Sam was now feeling regretful of asking. "Oh, I'm sorry if it's hard for you," she said to Winter before she turned back to face the front, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no. I don't mind," Winter said quickly before smiling at Sam, "besides, I should at least tell someone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's ok." Winter replied before smiling more. "I think we're going to become good friends."

* * *

"I wonder what they're talking about..." Riley thought aloud to Humphrey about the girls behind them.

Humphrey just shrugged. "Who knows. However I do know that we'll be home soon, _and_ I'm tired. So, let's take a break"

"You're so lazy Humph, seriously, where's the determination?" Kate asked with a smile.

"We _should_ stop for a while." Riley cut in, saving Humphrey from Kate's banter on "fitness". "Remember, Winter is still recovering."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Kate replied before she looked to Humphrey, "You're lucky I can't touch you otherwise I'd have you running laps."

"Exactly why I'm going to enjoy this moment."

Kate went on to say she wished she could punch him then and there as Riley turned back to Sam and Winter. "Hey, girls," he called out, "we're stopping here for a while to rest, so if you want to come and lay down for a bit." He then smiled to Sam just as Winter seemed to whisper something into Sam's ear, making her laugh. He felt they must've been talking about him, but he didn't have a clue so he just left it. However, as he went to stretch his muscles for a bit, his ears pricked up.

"What is that?" he thought aloud. No one else seemed to hear him though, as they were all deep in their own conversations. He quickly looked around for the sound as the familiar scent flooded his nose. "Is it really? He asked himself. "Here?"

That scent was making him tremble. It was the scent of..._blood_.

Riley quickly scoured the cliff faces of the surround hills before he saw it. Sure enough, there was a white wolf. The wolf's pelt was a deep red shade however, and it was rolling down the mountain. Well, more so _falling_.

"What..." He trailed off as he followed the wolf's blood trail up to the top of the mountain to see five wolves, watching the white wolf fall with amusement.

Humphrey and Kate seemed to finally notice when the white wolf's body slammed into the trunk of a nearby tree, frightening them to no avail. Only then did Riley finally free himself from his thoughts and realise the gravity of the situation at hand. He looked back up the the five wolves to see them staring at him with bewilderment before he heard what must of been the head Alpha say...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR! GRAB HIM AND KILL THE BYSTANDERS!"

Now Riley knew they were in trouble. Big trouble. They had to get out of there, and fast.

"SAM, WINTER. LET'S GO! NOW" he yelled to them. Humphrey and Kate needed no further encouragement either after witnessing the whole thing. Sam was about to complain before she noticed the wolves and got up instantly, running quickly with Winter. Riley was about to follow when he looked at the wolf who'd been thrown off the cliff at the too of the mountain. He deduced the wolf was his own age. Riley couldn't help but realise that the wolf's injuries weren't severe at all, just pain-inducing and the wolf was still alive after the fall from the cliff.

_They were torturing him_...Riley thought. _I can't just leave him her_e.

With that, Riley quickly put the wolf on his back and ran full-speed back to the others.

"Kate, signal your father to gather his Alphas. Tell them to meet us at the border, I found a way we can have no bloodshed in this." Riley said to her before she howled ahead and told Winston to have the Alphas there immediately. Then Riley looked at the Arctic wolf on his back whose white fur was stained crimson. "Well, minimal bloodshed" he corrected himself.

After running full-speed for a decent five minutes they rushed into the territory before the Alphas jumped out behind them, blocking the path of their pursuers. Winston stood at the edge of the territory as the pursuing wolves came to a stop.

"What is your business here?" Winston asked the wolves calmly.

"Listen, all we want is that wolf. Give him to us and we'll leave you alone." A large black wolf spoke up, obviously their leader. Before Winston could answer, Kate came up to him and whispered in his ear before running back off. "Well? What'll it be?" The wolf asked again.

"I think you're in no position to be making demands. You will leave now, or face the consequences." As if on cue, the Alphas either side of Winston growled to reinforce the fact that they were hilariously outnumbered.

The black wolf seemed to contemplate something before standing down. "Fine" he said, stunning his comrades. "Stand down" he said to them.

"What!? But sir, we haven't finished with him-"

"I said stand down. We're done here. There's nothing we can do, we had our fun with him while we could." With that, the wolves slowly walked away.

Winston walked over to one of the Alphas and said to him, "Double border guards tonight." The wolf nodded before he walked off with the other Alphas.

However, as Winston walked away he had a feeling like someone was watching him. He turned around but saw nothing that could promote such a thing, then shrugged and returned to the pack.

Little did he know that further away from him and on a hill a wolf was watching him intently. "Well, this is interesting indeed...I'd better report this right away." The wolf smiled to himself.

* * *

Now safely inside the border, Sam had begun to clean the white wolf's wounds. They were on top of a hill near Sam's den and the sun was slowly going down, they'd used a lot of time getting back but now they were there.

"Ok, I've finished cleaning his wounds but there's still the problem of _this_" Sam said, pointing out the rather large piece of wood that was stuck in the white wolf's chest.

"That's not good, he must've got that root in him when he fell down the mountain." Riley commented. "We're gonna have to get that out. How to do it safely though..."

It seemed as though the wolf could hear what they were talking about and woke up. He slowly opened his eyes before he noticed where he was and cowered in fright. "W-what's going on here-OW!" the wolf stopped when he shifted his weight to the side, putting pressure on the wood in his side.

"Woah there buddy, calm down." Riley said. The last thing they wanted was for him to damage himself further. Who knew where the piece of wood was inside him.

"A-are they gone?" The wolf asked tentatively. It was obvious he'd gone through a great deal of pain from those wolves, he was practically shaking.

"Yes, you're safe. I'm Riley, this is Sam, Humphrey and Kate." Riley replied although he felt a sense of Déjà vu, he'd already introduced himself and the others to another Arctic wolf today.

"Oh...ok. Thank you. I-I'm Yoshino-" however Yoshino cut off when his golden eyes trailed down to his side and widened. "-AAAHHH!" he cried out when he saw the large root sticking out of his side.

"Don't move, you'll just make it more painful." Riley said, trying to get the wolf to calm down. "Now, to figure out how to get this out..."

"You mean you don't know?" Yoshino asked, terror filling his mind again. "GET THIS OUT OF ME! PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

"The intrusion is in a good place," Winter said non-chalantly as she strolled over to them, "since it's not near any internal organs, we can just pull it straight out."

"Actually, she's right." Sam agreed, making Yoshino's eyes widen once again.

"N-now wait a minute..." Yoshino said shakily, "Don't do anything rash." Sam, Riley _and _Winter shared a look before they all smiled somewhat evilly and looked to the now vulnerable Yoshino. "G-guys...?" he stuttered. Then Sam and Riley grabbed either side of Yoshino and held him there. "NOO-!" Yoshino yelled as he fumbled to try and get out of their grasp but to no avail, and Winter swiftly reached in with her paw and pulled the root out.

Thankfully, the incision had only gone in about five centimeters.

Yoshino just sat there mouth agape before Sam and Riley let go of him and he fell backwards onto the ground, curling up in a foetal position and clutching his chest.

"And who's that..." Yoshino wheezed.

"Oh, me?" Winter had an innocent look on her face. "I'm Winter." She smiled before she came and sat down by him. "Sorry about that, we had to get it out of you before you got an infection."

Riley turned to Sam and asked her, "How does she know all this?".

"She told me she was trained in healing practices because her entire team needed to have that training to qualify." Sam replied before she remembered something Winter had said to her.

_"Hey Sam...you might find this a little funny but I feel a little anxious whenever I'm around guys._"

Sam was wondering why Winter wasn't so shy around Yoshino._ Maybe it was because Yoshino was like her. They are both quite shy, although Yoshino seems to get frightened easily but I'm sure there's a reason for that._

"Ok, so now we all know each other. Let's know a little more about you." Riley said. "Who were those wolves and why did they want to kill you so badly?"

Everyone listened intently, it was a question they all wanted answers to.

"O-ok...but I must tell you first," Yoshino laid down and took a deep breath, "this is a long story, and I want your word you won't think of me differently. All of you."

"Ok, sure." "Fine with me" "I promise." "All good." Four of them replied before Riley turned to Winter. "Winter...?"

"Don't worry," she giggled as she leaned in a little close to Yoshino, "I don't judge without knowing someone fully first." Her proximity made Yoshino blush slightly before he regained his composure.

"Good...but this is not for the faint-hearted." Yoshino replied quietly. "It started a while ago...back when I was a pup."

_It was raining, a large grey cloud loomed above the forest and the trees swayed heavily. A white golden-eyed pup and a large brown wolf were drenched, the white pup obviously in discomfort. "Father," the white wolf said, "can we please go home now? I'm cold..."_

_"NO!" the brown wolf yelled as he slapped his son. "Not until you can do what you're supposed to, you're pathetic! Now get back up there and finish your jumps! Bloody hell, Yoshino..."_

_"Yes...father..." Yoshino sniffed as he jumped back onto the agility course and tried to jump from the tree to the next but his sadness brought his concentration down and he fell, angering his father even more._

_"What the FUCK!" his father yelled as he punched the already battered Yoshino in the chest. "Get back up! In this pack we don't accept failure! If you can't even finish this course, how are you supposed to kill?"_

_"I'm sorry father...I'll try harder..." Yoshino muttered as he coughed up blood._

"My father was a very strict parent." Yoshino said, breaking away from the story. "My pack was a very disturbing pack. We were all trained assassins...any pup that failed the harsh training would be put to death."

Sam, Riley, Winter, Humphrey and Kate sat in shocked silence.

"What?" Yoshino questioned as he met there gazes. "This is only the beginning. The real trouble happens later...but first I should tell you the training we all had to go through under the threat of death. We begin with acrobatics."

_"Yoshino, do you even have any idea how important this is?" his father asked. Yoshino shook his head. "I thought not. Anyway, you need to learn how to be agile so you can kill with efficiency. I know not many wolves can do it, not even me but I'll be damned if you don't so you better not fuck it up, understand me?"_

_"Yes father...whatever you want" mumbled Yoshino. _

_"To have the ability to jump from tree-to-tree with speed and precision was a skill I always desired...only the head of the pack can do it, Yoshino. I would love to go out on a mission wirh him, oh the amount of blood I would see..."_

"How is this relevant to our original question?" Humphrey asked before Kate hit him.

"You'll see. Anyway, by the end of my training I had flawlessly completed each area of the training. Stealth, Close-Combat, Strategic Intelligence, basic Delta knowledge and eventually...acrobatics. They even tought us how to not feel, that way our emotions wouldn't get in the way, however I never ever did that. I wasn't able to throw away my emotions like so many others before me. I had to pretend I was an emotionless killer, like the rest of them. However, something happened..."

_"Yoshino, you've become a brilliant assassin! Now, for your first kill...I want you to kill the pack leader."_

_"Why is that, father?" Yoshino replied. _

_"Because, I want to become the pack leader. I want to be able to go on all the missions I like, that way I can kill all the creatures I want. Wolves, bears, deer. Who cares, what's the difference?" His father laughed insanely. _

_"Ok." Yoshino said simply before he left. _

_"I want to see this..." his father muttered to himself as he followed Yoshino to the main den. _

_Soon enough they'd made it to the main den and Yoshino walked inside, quickly followed by his father. _

_"What's the meaning of this, Huey?" The pack leader asked him as he stood next to Yoshino. _

_"It's my turn to be pack leader now, Dallas" Huey replied. "Yoshino is going to kill you, and I'm going to take your place." _

_A loud bellow of laughter erupted in the den as Dallas laughed loudly. "I'm sorry, what?!" He laughed. "You think Yoshino can beat me? Well, step right up kid, I'll be sure to leave you in a pool when you die" he chuckled as he got into a fighting stance. _

"He didn't have a chance." Yoshino said.

* * *

**A/N**

**I changed my mind. Splitting this into two parts now so you guys can read this sooner. Please let me know what you think in the reviews. Have a good one, the next chapter will be out soon. **


	20. Part Two: Come Thou Fount (9-II)

**A/N**

**For some reason chapter 19 wasn't working and I couldn't read it after I updated it. Hopefully it'll work once I update this chapter. Anyway, thanks for your reviews ;)**

**Wrote the last chapter in only five days eh, LoverWolfs? Try one day for this one ;)**

***fixed some minor errors and changed chapter title**

* * *

**Part Two**

**#9-II Come Thou Fount**

* * *

_Huey looked around the den in pure wonder. There was so much red, it was if he was in a dream._

_"Yoshino! I'm proud of you, you killed him without even breaking a sweat! Now, my first action as pack leader will be-"_

_"Death." Yoshino cut his father off._

_"Excuse me?" Huey asked._

_"I have put up with you for my whole life…some father you were. If you think you could just use me as your little killing machine then think again." Yoshino replied without his usual simple tone. It was as if the cover of simplicity had been taken off…and now all his hidden emotions were seeping out._

_"But…Yoshino…you were supposed to have no feelings! You're a DISGRACE!" Huey yelled before he attempted to punch Yoshino like he always had, but this time was different. It was so strange for Huey to feel his paw stopped so suddenly after all those years, and it was even stranger to feel the blood seeping out of the slit in his neck. "Yoshino…" he gurgled as he collapsed onto the flaw, clutching his neck. He hadn't even seen Yoshino's paw move and cut open his artery._

_"Technically…Huey…I killed Dallas so I'M the new pack leader." Yoshino grinned as he watched his father slowly lose his precious blood. "Firstly, you are no longer my father. Secondly, I'm sick of this pack and I'm going to purge it from the face of the earth. Killing is no way acceptable, unless it's for the greater good. So, to stop all the terrible wolves of this pack killing and assassinating any more wolves, I'm going to kill them all."_

At this point, they were all shocked.

"I know…you must think I'm a monster…" Yoshino said, hanging his head.

"You certainly don't seem that way right now, though." Winter said cheerfully. Yoshino just looked at her, trying to understand her reasoning. _Why is she not afraid of me? Can she not see how bad this is making me look?_ He thought before Winter's voice interrupted him. "I'm glad there's no longer a pack that is completely devoted to killing. In my eyes, it took a lot of courage to know what the pack was doing wrong especially since you were born into it."

"Oh…well, thanks." Yoshino replied. "Anyway, now comes the reason those wolves were after me, and why I couldn't escape from them even though I had all my training. It begins about a year after I…destroyed my pack. When I was a lone wolf. You see, I would always like to help others, despite my upbringing…"

_Yoshino stood on top of the mountain where his den was, watching the pack he'd kept a close eye on for the past few weeks. Lone wolves would often pass by his small territory, seeking food and exhausted. Naturally, he was a helpful wolf so he gave them anything they need before they went on their way. Most of them say they'll come by a visit, some do, but the ones that went into the direction of that pack never visited him again._

_He became suspicious._

_So, after a few weeks of investigating, Yoshino came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the pack in question. Of course the fact that the pack was made up entirely of Alphas who'd been banished from their first packs was also setting off a few alarm bells._

_So, as he watched out upon the valley the pack resided in, he came to a decision. He was going to join their pack to find out more._

_A month later, Yoshino was deep in their ranks and was now a trusted comrade. It turned out the pack he'd joined was much like the one he was brought up in, if not less sophisticated. What shocked him the most however, was that he now knew the reason why his friends had never come back to visit him._

"T-they were captured by them…and tortured…" Yoshino muttered, tears springing to his eyes. "They tortured all my friends, sometimes raping them, before they killed them. All of them."

"Hey, it's ok." Winter said as she gave him a hug. He looked at her and smiled, thankful that this wolf he'd only known for a short while was so understanding and compassionate.

"Anyway…this part is fairly bad so if you don't want to listen, please don't." Yoshino said but was met with unwavering eyes. It seemed they all wanted to hear it. "Ok then…"

_So, with Yoshino now thirsting for justice for his friends, he came up with a plan. He was going to make them pay._

_He would begin by stealthily making the food of the pack inedible by either stealing it, or ripping them to shreds and covering the remains with dirt. He did this for a while, constantly angering the head Alpha of the pack._

_That would be Daemon._

_Daemon was a large and built black wolf who thought everyone as lower than him. His punishments were cruel and severe, even saying the wrong things around him could merit punishment. The amount of anger Yoshino's actions had caused Daemon was quite amusing to Yoshino, and continued to encourage him to do more. It was only the beginning._

_Yoshino had never shown off his true abilities, so when he decided to take revenge, no-one could ever even guess that it was him._

_About two weeks into Yoshino joining the pack, there was a large crowd around one of the dens. This became a usual event. Yoshino had found out the wolves who did the unspeakable things to his friends, and swiftly brought judgment upon them all. This continued for weeks until Yoshino carelessly killed the last one who'd raped his friend. He'd just been so caught up in finally fulfilling his vengeance that he'd forgotten the wolf he killed had a friend who lived with him._

_This was his downfall._

_After Yoshino killed the wolf he had targeted, the other wolf walked into the den. He knew he couldn't kill the innocent wolf, he had done nothing against Yoshino or his friends. Even if he'd done things against others, Yoshino didn't want to kill any more._

_"SOMEONE HELP ME!" The wolf yelled and before Yoshino knew it, he was surrounded. He could have made his escape, but was somehow frozen on the spot._

_"So...we finally found our culprit." Daemon said to him. "Can I assume you did the food supply, too?"_

_"GO TO HELL!" Yoshino yelled._

_"Ooh..fiesty. I like that. Too bad you won't have the strength to protest when we're done with you...which'll be never" Daemon ended the sentence with a cruel laugh._

"I'm sorry...I can't say anymore about that..." Yoshino sobbed. "But the reason they were after me, is because I escaped. It was near impossible because of what they did to me. Do you want to know why I don't seem like the wolf I say I was?" He asked.

They all seemed to look at each other, wondering if they should press on.

"I don't know...is it ok to?" Riley asked.

"Yeah just don't ask me about what happened before, but anyway my first attempt at escape made them give me the drug" Yoshino replied. "I don't know w-what it is..." he trailed of in a fit of tears again but tried to regain his composure, "but whatever it is...I lost my ability to coordinate my body. I can't fight at all, the only thing I retained was my mental capacity."

"Wow...that is awful..." Riley trailed off in despair. Despair for the messed-up world they live in. "You know what? I'm done with it all. This pack...what are they called?" He directed the question to Yoshino.

"I think they called themselves the "Brutal" pack. Don't know why, though." he replied.

"Right..." Riley trailed off in deep thought. "Well...I have a plan. Would you like to hear my proposition?" He then asked the group.

"Sure" they replied.

"Alright then...well, basically, I think we should fight back." Riley said with a fire in his eye that could only be described as determination. "We should build a regiment to counter all the tyranity and absurd violence in the area, then eventually further. Including this "Brutal" pack and the Revolution, much like the team Winter had described to us earlier."

"I agree." Sam said. "You should speak to Winston about this...I'm just as passionate for vengeance as you are. I'll join you." Riley's eyes lit up when she said that, his lips curving into a smile.

"Wonderful. Anyone else?" Riley asked.

"Why not?" Winter perked up. "I'm sick of the violence in the world, and, I want get back at that pack for hurting Yoshino." Yoshino could only blush at her determination, thankful for vengeance on her part.

"Brilliant...now, what say you, Yoshino?" Riley swiveled slightly to look at him.

"Me? Didn't you hear me before? I lost my ability to fight when they gave me that drug..." Yoshino trailed off again.

"Nonsense." Riley disagreed with him. "You said you still retained your mental capacity, and what's to say we can't find a cure for this drug of yours?"

Maybe it was the genuine smile and happy attitude, but Yoshino felt overwhelmed by Riley's desire to help him. "Y-you would do that for me?" He asked him.

"Of course, Sam and I are the best healers around don't you know?" Riley replied with a little humor. "So, what's it going to be?"

"Well...ok then!" Yoshino replied, feeling a sense of happiness that he wouldn't be useless. A sense of happiness that he could make a difference.

"Now, we're just left with you two." Riley said as he turned to look at Kate and Humphrey. "How about it?" He asked them.

"I'm sorry..." Kate began, "but I'm going to say no."

"W-what?" Riley choked. Surely his first friends would back him up, and want to be a part of what he was doing to make a difference. "Why not!?"

"Don't get me wrong, Riley," Kate said, "I want nothing more than to join you and help you but...where I go, Humphrey will follow." She said as she turned to see Humphrey sitting there beside her. "Whilst Humphrey has no training, I'm not going to let him participate in this. Let me train him first, then I'll join you."

Riley sat there for a moment, pondering. "That's fair enough...we wouldn't want Humphrey to be unprepared now, would we?" he seemed to ask himself. "Kate, if possible do you think Winston can train him as a Delta? Seeing as he'll be your mate soon and will eventually run this pack I'm sure he'd agree."

"Actually, that's a really good idea Riley." Kate replied. "In the morning, how about we go and talk to him about both the ideas of your regiment and Humphrey's training. Although, I'm sure he'll agree to both."

"Great, I guess we're all set for a good night's sleep, eh?" Riley asked as he looked at the moon in the sky.

"Pretty much." Humphrey broke his silence. "We're back now, so..." Humphrey trailed off as he gave Kate a kiss. "I can kiss you again."he smiled as she giggled.

Sam rolled her eyes as she turned to say something to Riley, but was met with air again. "Where'd he go?" She muttered before she caught sight of him, sitting just away from them looking out across the valley. "Goodnight guys." She said to them all as she noticed Winter and Yoshino laying down slightly close together, a smirk appearing on her face. _Those two look cute together, two white wolves,_ she thought to herself with a smile as she strode over to where Riley was now sitting.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey." He replied, barely shifting his vision. She sat down next to him, thinking about what she was going to say whilst they sat there looking at the sky. "Hey Sam," he said, turning to her, "have you ever noticed just how amazing the sky is at night? All these stars...all those constellations..." He trailed off. "Aren't they breathtaking? This is why I love nature." She smiled at him as he looked back at the stars.

"I'd say." She replied. "Say, Riley, ever been on many night walks?" She then asked him.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, you know, it's basically just like going for a walk but at night." Sam replied. "I think I prefer walks when it's early in the morning when the sun gives off it's bright light across the horizon, or at night when nature is illuminated just by the moon."

"Same. Although I can't say I've been on many night _walks_ but more so night _runs_." Riley chuckled to himself. "Mainly when Luke would tell me to for my training..." He trailed off again, leaving a slightly sad tone.

Sam didn't want him to be so down on himself, he'd been doing that too much lately. So, she though of an idea.

"Well, why don't we then?" She asked cheerfully as he looked at her.

"Why don't we what?" He asked, confused about what she was talking about.

"You know, go on a night walk." She replied. "It's not like your going to get any sleep, staring at the moon like that anyway." She could see a change within him already after that, and it looked as if he just comepletely forgot about all his worries.

"Sure." He replied as he grinned, his tail wagging slightly as he got up. "Take me to the best spot around the territory."

"Alright then, follow me." She replied in kind.

* * *

As they made their way up the mountain that branched off of the hill above Sam's den, Sam noticed that whilst he was pointing out several things in the sky his mood had changed dramatically. It was as if whenever she was around, he seemed to be much happier. She then thought about the conversation she'd had earlier with Winter.

_"Thanks for helping me, you and your mate that is."_

_"No problem-" Sam smiled before she realised what Winter just said. "N-no, we're not mates..." she replied, a blush clearly evident on her face. "We're just good friends."_

_"Oh really?" Winter replied, "I would have thought so, you certainly both act like it_."

Sam stopped suddenly as she realised just how true Winters words were.

"Sam..." Riley said as she stood there. "What's wrong?"

"What?" She said as a large smile filled her face. "Oh, nothing." She blushed as she continued walking beside him. She looked up to the stars quickly, still bearing the large smile on her face. _Thanks, Winter, _she thought as she looked back at Riley.

"So where are you taking us?" Riley asked her as they continued through the trees. "I've noticed we've been climbing this mountain for nearly half an hour..."

"Oh, there's this really nice place at the top of the mountain...actually, here it is." Sam replied as they broke out of the forest and into a small clearing at the very top of the mountain.

"Wow...this is really high up..." Riley said as he saw the large drop down into the valley.

"Well, yeah, this is the highest place in the whole of Jasper!" She replied as he sat down on the grass.

"Hey look," he said as he looked beside him, "it's a small stream!" He then leant down and tasted some before leaning back up. "This must come from a lake or something up here when it rains. it tastes amazing."

"Yeah thats what I thought when I first had some." Sam replied as she came and sat next to him, their pelts touching. They both smiled at the feeling, and neither if them minded the close proximity. They then sat there for a while, in silence, as they watched out over the valley and listened to the sounds of the forest. It wasn't raining like the night before, although some grey clouds loomed above and threatened to empty their contents.

"Sam..." Riley broke the silence as he looked at her, getting her attention. "Ever since I met you, you've been such an inspiration to me. You're smart, funny, talented and beautiful. If you hadn't have been there for me I would have been lost..." He confessed, making her smile the biggest smile. "And..."

It seemed everything went quiet for a moment, as If nature wanted to hear what Riley had to say.

"I...I l-love you, Sam."

Sam's heart seemed to skip a beat when she heard those words. Then she grinned and looked him in the eyes.

"I love you too." She replied as she smiled immensely. They slowly moved forward before their lips connected in a kiss, sending shivers down both their spines and relishing what they had both longed for.

It seemed like an eternity until they finally broke apart, both of them with the biggest smiles on thier faces.

"You know...we could sleep up here tonight if you want" Sam winked, and Riley could swear he nearly fainted.

"Oh...u-uh...I..." He stuttered hopelessly as a blush enveloped his cheeks.

"I was only teasing" Sam giggled.

* * *

**A/N**

**There's not much I can say, really. Not after that. Just please review and have a good one!**


	21. Part Two - End: Mirror (10-I)

**A/N**

**Final chapter of Part Two. Let's do this. Also as of 26/08/14 I re-wrote chapter one and replaced it. It should say this on that chapter as well. However I am not suggesting reading it, because it contains the exact same amount of content as before, I only refined it to make it look nicer and more appealing for new readers. Oh and the chapter was going to be too long so I split it in half. This is NOT the end of Part Two, just part one of the ending of Part Two xD confusing eh?**

**Enjoy ;)**

* * *

**Part Two – End**

**#10-I Mirror**

* * *

For the first time, the grey ball of fluff's ears registered sound. Sound that frightened it, the sound of a female in incredulous pain and a male's voice. Then it was all quiet. Unfortunately for the pup, it couldn't open its eyes to see what was going on, let alone understand or talk.

Then came the muffled sobbing and the wailing cries. "Oh L-Leah..." The tan-brown wolf cried into his mate's fur, mourning for her death. It took him a while until he finally seemed to notice the shivering newborn ball of grey fur. He slowly moved over to it, before quickly enveloping it with his body heat and nuzzling it affectionately. "W-would y-you look at that, L-Leah? We've got a daughter!" the wolf said to his mate's comatose body, sobbing yet smiling at the same time. "W-what should we call her?"

No response.

"Y-yeah, I didn't think y-you'd know..." the wolf slowly trailed off, his attempt to cheer himself up failing miserably. His unstable emotions were beginning to tip the scale and his face contorted into a look of absolute sadness. "L-Leah..." He could say no more as he burst into uncontrollable tears, holding on to what was now the only precious thing in his life.

_What is this? What am I looking at? _Sam thought to herself as she looked at the spectacle from an out-of-world point of view._ I recognise that voice! Could that be...my father?_

"Well, as a matter of fact it is." A voice came from behind, startling her. She spun around but was faced with a small young wolf with auburn fur. However the most distinguishable feature to her, was those three gleaming rings around his right foreleg.

"Toboe." Sam said to herself.

"Yeah! That's me alright!" Toboe laughed cheerfully before he turned back to the scene in the den. "But who do you think that little fluffball is?"

"If that's my father then I'm assuming that it's me, right?" Sam asked, looking back to find that there was no longer anything there but blackness all around her and the one thing she could see was Toboe.

"Correctomundo! But you don't remember that scene, do you? You've never seen your father before, let alone your mother who died giving birth to you." Toboe replied.

"Was it you who showed me that?" She asked. "Why?"

"Yes, I showed you that. But everything has a reason, Sam. Surely you know that." Toboe replied. "Everyone has their reasons for everything, but there is great reason why I am here "

"Why are you here then?" She then asked him. "Why me?"

"Why you? Well, I can't talk to myself for starters." he replied. "As for why...I am here to help you stop the madness. I am here...to free the world of the evil and their detrimental reasons..."

"Do you mean the Revolution?" Sam asked, intrigued.

"Yes, but there is an even greater evil afoot within them than you could ever imagine." Toboe replied before he realised something. "Oh dang nabit, we're running out of time. Oh well, I'll just have to tell it to you straight so listen up."

"Alright, but only because I can tell you're the real deal." she said.

"Ok then. Firstly, I showed you your past because it will become of need in the future. Secondly, something terrible will happen and an event I cannot foresee will occur. Whether this event is good or bad I cannot say. Thirdly, you and your mate will be the ones to free the oppressed and rid the world of the ancient evil. Fourthly-"

"-My mate?" Sam interrupted, and Toboe knew he'd made a mistake.

"Wait, you and Riley aren't mates yet?" he asked and she shook her head, her mouth agape. She knew there was only one way for two wolves to become mates and a blush formed on her cheeks. Toboe then hit himself in the head with his paw. "Sorry, I got a little confused, I shouldn't have told you that yet."

"N-no...y-out probably shouldn't have..." Sam trailed off, spaced out.

"Sam listen to me. Fourthly, you will only remember this when you need to, meaning thankfully you won't remember that."

"What?! What if I want to remember that?" She asked.

"You've already forgotten." Toboe smiled cheekily.

"Forgotten what?" she asked, slightly dazed.

"Exactly." Toboe said before he continued on. "Lastly, I will join you again in physical form when your past reveals itself to you. Goodbye for now." He then swiftly moved towards her and lightly tapped her forehead, instantly rendering her unconscious. "Sweet dreams. Uh, even if you were already dreaming..." he finished awkwardly, feeling stupid.

* * *

Sam woke with a yawn, letting the drowsiness out of her system before getting up and stretching the aching muscles she gained climbing up the mountain. She looked out across the valley as the bright morning sun illuminated the park, hitting the large snow-topped mountain on the other side of valley and making it cast its shadow. However she must've slept funny, because she felt a crick in her neck.

She slowly turned her head from side to side, hearing a _crack_ when she did and the crick disappeared. She sighed in satisfaction before feeling a dryness in her throat, turning to the stream to lap up the deliciously refreshing coolness that soothed it.

"I see you're awake" Riley said from behind her before she turned to face him. He streched as he emitted a long yawn, scrunching his eyes and getting the sleep out of them.

"Yeah," she replied before asking, "how long have you been up?"

"Just got up right then." He replied as she strolled over to him. "This is a really nice place, when did you find it?"

"With Kate when we were pups. We kind of ran away one night and trekked up here." she then giggled at the memory. "Winston and Eve were very angry as you could imagine."

"Yeah no kidding." He replied as he looked into her eyes, gleaming in the glare of the sun. "You're beautiful, you know that?" He said. She just giggled as she leant in and kissed him, making him blush.

Then they sat there for a few moments, lips locked with one thought going through both their minds. _I could get used to this..._

She broke the kiss and giggled at his dream-like state. "I take it you enjoyed that did you?" She asked coyly.

"One word. Amazing." He replied making her laugh. "Anyway should we head back, Humph and Kate are probably asleep or looking for us and we still need to ask Winston about the whole team-thing."

She seemed to think for a moment before smiling. "Alright then, shall we?" She asked mockingly as she gestured towards the forest, back where they came.

"Of course" he replied, smiling.

* * *

"Where do you two keep running off to?" Humphrey asked, raising his brow as Riley and Sam arrived back to their "campsite".

"No-where." Riley replied quickly, not wanting them to know yet. "We were just going for another walk."

"Morning or night walk?" Humphrey asked. "Because when I woke up last night both of you were gone. Did you spend the night out together?" He asked smiling slyly.

"W-what? N-no it's not like that..." Riley stuttered, earning a giggle from Kate who was beside them.

"Well what's it like then?" Humphrey asked before Sam entered the conversation, walking up next to Riley.

"It's like this" she said simply before she gave Riley a light peck on the cheek and giving a wink to the now surprised Humphrey and Kate, Riley blushing terribly before Sam giggled.

"You guys...didn't...you know..." Humphrey asked before he was met with a punch from Sam.

"No." Sam replied sternly. "You guys haven't even..." but she trailed off when she was met by straight faces. "Wait a second..."

Humphrey and Kate were now sitting rigid, a blush forming on their cheeks.

"You DID didn't you!" Riley exclaimed before he and Sam burst out laughing.

Humphrey and Kate could only look at each other with blushing cheeks as they endured the fit they'd gotten themselves into.

"Damn it" they both muttered before Riley and Sam seemed to calm down a bit.

"When!?" Riley asked. He wanted to know how long they'd kept it a secret for.

"Actually...uh...last night" Humphrey chuckled weakly, Sam and Riley's mouths agape. "Yeah...but we don't regret it, do we?" he asked aside to Kate who smiled and shook her head.

"Definitely not."

"Yeah well we've got work to do and we can chat later" Sam said before adding, "and we _will_ be chatting later" with a wink.

"Alright then, I guess we're going to my father first up? Oh, and you will _not_ tell my parents _anything,_ you got it?" Kate said sternly.

"We promise." Riley and Sam replied before Riley remembered something. "Guys, what about Yoshino and Winter?" he asked as he noticed the two white wolves, sleeping peacefully against each other. "They should come with us, I'm sure Winston would probably like a reason for having to call out his Alphas like that yesterday."

"Good idea." Sam agreed as she walked over to the two and looked back at Humphrey, Kate and Riley who were watching her and wondering what she was going to do. "This is how you wake someone up." and with that she took a deep breath before yelling a very loud, "WAKE UP!".

The reaction was priceless.

* * *

As the six of them sat in the main den, two white wolves sat away from each other. They weren't letting the other see their crimson face.

_Damn you, Sam_ Winter thought as she recalled what happened.

_Winter was sleeping peacefully beside Yoshino, one of the most peaceful sleeps she had in a while, before a loud voice penetrated her ears. "WAKE UP!" it yelled and her eyes shot open, her reflexes causing her to jump in fright and on top of something. When she opened her eyes, she saw Yoshino's face up against hers, and her lips pressed against his. Her eyes widened and she jumped back, blushing immensely before turning to the cause of the event. "SAM!" she yelled but it was of no use because the other three wolves were already down and out, rolling on the ground laughing their heads off. The sound of laughter behind her caused to spin around and find Yoshino laughing as well. "What are you laughing at, it happened to you as well." she said to him and he realised she was right, shutting his mouth and looking away with a blush on his face._

_It was nice though _she thought and she giggled to herself.

"So," Winston said, "what actually brings you here? Although I'm sure it must have something to do with what happened yesterday which is good because now I don't have to chase you up."

"I suppose first up we'll tell you about what happened yesterday." Kate said. "Basically on our way home from our trip, we found _him_," she paused to turn to Yoshino before continuing, "and those wolves who were chasing us were actually after him."

"And who is this?" Winston asked, referring to Yoshino.

"Oh," he spoke up, "I'm Yoshino. Nice to meet you."

"So tell me Yoshino, why did you threaten my pack?" Winston asked calmly, making Yoshino's eyes widen.

"I'm sorry what?" Yoshino asked, puzzled, before he got what Winston meant. "Oh, never mind. Anyway, long story short, those wolves after me had done something unspeakable to close friends of mine. Since I'm a lone, I didn't have very many friends and the friends I did have were very close to me. So I gave them a little payback and when they found out they did horrible things to me and would have continued to do horrible things to me had I not escaped. Which is why they were after me; because I escaped. If it weren't for Riley I would have died, and I'm very sorry that I endangered your pack."

Winston seemed to think for a moment, making Yoshino grow nervous at what Winston might do to him because some pack leaders grow very protective over there pack and have been known to do drastic things. But Kate and Humphrey knew him well, and had no reason to worry.

"Alright then you're off the hook," Winston said as Yoshino let out a sigh of relief, "but you now need to make a choice; if you are a part of this pack and those wolves come after you again, we will defend you. But if you are a lone wolf and they come for you, you must not come anywhere near this pack."

"So...you're asking me to join this pack?" Yoshino asked and he nodded. _Hmm...I'm not much of a pack person. What will they think of me when my past is revealed? _he thought to himself before he looked at Riley, Sam, Humphrey, Kate. _Winter... "_Ok. I'll join you" Yoshino smiled.

"Wonderful, glad to have you on-board." Winston smiled in return before he looked at Winter. "Now...another unknown Arctic wolf. Who might you be?" he asked.

"I'm Winter. My pack was destroyed by the Revolution and I was the sole survivor, albeit half-dead. Riley and Sam cured me of a deadly poison and if it weren't for them I'd be dead." she replied before Winston shook his head in dismay.

"This Revolution is absolutely ridiculous. What on earth do they want?" he asked himself. "They need to be stopped somehow..."

"Actually, Winston, that was another reason why we wanted to come and see you." Riley said as Winston raised his eyebrow. "I want to be able to combat the Revolution and I think I know how."

"And how is that?" Winston asked.

"I want to create a group of wolves, a task-force if you will, that will take part in the ascension of the oppressed." Riley replied. "We will attempt to do what many others have failed, and attack the Revolution ourselves."

"Well, I must say this is interesting but do you even know _where_ the Revolution is located?" Winston asked.

"No...but that is what we will find out." Riley replied. "Winter was in a similar division in her own pack, before they caught on and destroyed them. The idea is to _not_ get caught out."

Winston seemed to think deeply about this, his brow slightly raising as he asked himself questions. It took a while before he finally found his answers and looked to Riley. "It depends on what you'll need from me." He said. "Such as: how endangering will it be to the pack, where you'll find the wolves for the division and so on etc."

"We already have some wolves who are willing to join, which is basically everyone in this room." Riley said. "Which leads on to _another_ reasons why we're here; to ask if you'll train Humphrey to a Delta stage. Kate won't join us until Humphrey is trained, and they both want to help eradicate the Revolution."_  
_

"Ok, so let me just recap everything here..." Winston trailed off in thought. "So, Yoshino joined the pack, Winter joined the pack, _you_ want to make a group of wolves to attack the revolution, and Humphrey wants to be trained as a Delta by me. Did I miss anything?"

Humphrey then perked up after sitting and listening in silence, "Actually I never said I wanted training..." earning himself looks from everyone, "...but Kate read me like a book and I _do_ want training. I just never said anything because she practically spoke my mind for me." he finished, earning a giggle from Kate.

"Alright then...anything else?" Winston asked but was met with silence. "Alright then. I've decided on the following: Riley I give you permission to create your group, and I will train Humphrey. This meeting is adjourned." And with that, they dispersed.

Riley needed to clear his head and think about things, Yoshino and Winter wanted to explore their new homes and Kate and Humphrey joined them. Which left Sam.

"I suppose I'll have a nap." She muttered to herself before she headed off to her den.

* * *

The small grey pup felt a release on her eyes, and decided to try something out. Slowly using her eyelids for the first time, she opened them and allowed light to fall upon their crystal-blueness.

"D-Dad...?" she called softly, not finding anyone with her inside the den. "D-Dad?" she called again, now scared. She picked herself up and walked outside and into the new world. She paused in awe, her eyes wide at the marvelous sights of a crashing waterfall and large mountainous range covered in green forest.

She was walking by the river when it happened.

The pup slipped, hit their head upon a large rock and fell into the stream.

* * *

"AHHHH!" Sam screamed as she woke up, looking around her. She sighed a sigh of relief when she realised there was no water around her before she noticed something. _I haven't had this nightmare in a while...why am I having it now?_ she thought. _Hold on...I should speak to Winston...__  
_

She then made her way to Winston's den, thinking over what happened when she arrived in the Western pack.

Sam had been carried down that river as a pup into the Western territory from the East, and was adopted into the Western pack. Winston had found her in the river, and even though at the time the two packs were very close to war, he had to check if she was from the Eastern pack. He'd made an assumption that she was from the East because of the river she'd come from, but when he had asked, Tony said he'd never seen the pup before.

She was now closer to finding her father. However, little did she know how close she really was...

* * *

Someone's paws against the ground alerted Winston to their presence outside his den. He turned to see his Beta, Hutch, enter the den with an urgent look on his face.

"Sir, I have a message for you." he stated.

"What is it Hutch? Have those wolves come back?" Winston asked.

"No, no." Hutch replied. "There's a small group of wolves at the border and they're looking for a wolf named Riley."

"Did they state who they were?" Winston asked. "Did you recognise anyone?"

"Actually, they did state who they were and I noticed Paddy and Marcel were with them." Hutch replied. "The one that seemed to be in charge was a wolf who called himself Luke, and he isn't any older than me I would say."

"Ahh, I see. Let Luke come with one other wolf but that's all I'll allow for now." Winston replied before Hutch nodded and shot out the den.

After a few short moments later, Hutch walked back in with two other wolves. One was a tall grey wolf, the other a tan brown wolf. "Here they are, Sir." Hutch replied before he went to stand by the entrance, letting the two wolves pass him and sit down.

"Greetings," Winston said as he looked between them, "Which one of you would be Luke?"

"That would be me." Luke replied as he gave a smile. "And I am here because I'm looking for a wolf named Riley, would you happen to have seen him? I Believe he made friends with some others wolves from this pack."

Winston seemed to give a slight chuckle before answering, "Yes, it seems you're in luck that Riley is currently here recuperating. Would you like me to fetch him for you?"

"Recuperating..." Luke muttered, giving a look to Will who was sitting behind him before looking back to Winston. "Yes thanks, please do I would like to see him."

It seemed that Sam picked the most opportune moment to enter.

"Hey Winston-" she began but stopped dead when she saw the other wolves in the den. "Oh, it seems you have company. I'll come back later." But just as she turned to leave, Winston spoke up.

"Sam actually could you come here a minute? I need you to fetch Riley." He asked.

"Riley? Who are they-" Sam began to ask before her eyes widened and her dream all came back to her.

_Oh L-Leah..._

"Who are you? Were you a part of the Eastern pack?" She shot at Luke, who looked befuddled.

"Pardon? Why are you-" Luke tried to ask before he was cut off.

"I _know_ I was born in the Eastern pack...but I lost myself and wound up here. I remember your voice..." she trailed off before looking at Luke straight in the eye. "Did you have a mate...named Leah?"

Luke stared blankly at her, his face straight yet hiding all the complex emotions now going through his head.

"Why are you asking this Sam? Can you please just get Riley-" Winston was now cut off by Luke.

"Yes."

All the wolves in the den sat in shocked silence. "Then I am your daughter." Sam smiled, tears down her face. She'd finally found him.

Luke then smiled in reciprocation, tears now flowing down his own face. After all these years, his daughter was all grown up. He'd found her again. To think all of this only happened because of one wolf...to think that if one wolf hadn't shown up in his life he'd never had found his daughter again for he would not have dared come near this place otherwise. Sam the strode up in front of him.

"It's nice to meet you...dad." She smiled when she said that. "I'm Sam."

Luke then smiled back, "Nice to meet you. I'm Luke." Then they embraced each other, and Luke whispered in her ear. "I wish your mother was here..."

"So do I..." Sam replied before something hit her. "Hold on a sec" she said before abruptly ending their hug.

"What? What is it?" Luke asked.

"Well...if you're here for Riley...then you much be the_ Luke_ who's his mentor that he talks about! You're alive!"

* * *

"Riley..." Sam's voice called as she walked up the grassy hill he was at the top of. _I'm glad Riley just likes to chill out sometimes...I could never be mates with anyone who is uptight _she thought before she blushed at her thoughts.

"Yeah?" was his reply from the top, making her shake her head to clear her blush. She then walked up the rest of the way and was met by his smiling face. "What is it?"

"I need you to come with me." Sam said, although it was only now that Riley noticed the wetness that seemed to be tears on her face.

"What's wrong? What happened?" he asked with concern.

"Oh, nothing" she laughed, noticing he thought her tears were ones of sadness. "It's great." she smiled. "For the both of us."

"What...?" He trailed off, wondering what it was.

"Do you remember when I told you about my parents?" she asked.

_"Riley, get back in here" Sam's voice called from inside her den. He was outside getting a bit of fresh air, even though he was supposed to be resting. "Remember, you shouldn't go out for too long or the muscle strain will cause your wound to reopen."_

_"Yes...mother...I know." he replied mockingly before he thought of something. "Hey Sam, what about your parents?"_

_She seemed to pause her work for a moment before answering, "What about them?"_

_"Well, I was just wondering, sorry if I brought up any bad memories." Riley finished slightly awkwardly. _

_"No, no." Sam replied, "It's ok, I can tell you about them but not much is known to me." She then took a deep breath as she sat down beside him. "I remember that my mother died when I was born, for reasons I am unclear of. As for my father, I have no idea."_

_"What? Why?" Riley asked. "Was he a lone wolf or something?"_

_"Something like that..." Sam trailed off. "I don't know. I remember finding myself here with no name, no family. Winston took me in and named me, adopting me into their family."_

_"Wow I'm so sorry to hear that..." Riley replied before smiling. "You'll find him one day."_

_"Thanks." Sam smiled back._

"Yeah, I remember. Why?" Riley asked her.

"Well...I found him. I found my father and he's in the main den as we speak!" Sam exclaimed with a wide smile.

"What!? Really? This is awesome!" Riley grinned from ear to ear. "I want to meet him, let's go!" he then said as he practically took off.

"Riley! WAIT!" Sam yelled after him as he skidded to a stop. "There's something else..."

"Huh? What else is there?" Riley asked her, puzzled.

Sam stopped. She didn't seem to know how to answer this question. "Well...you already _know_ my father." She stated, somewhat unsure about how to go with it.

"Huh?" was Riley's puzzled reply. "Really? Who is it?"

"He's your mentor, Luke." Sam replied simply and watched in amusement as his eyes widened in shock.

"_What?_" he barely managed to choke out before he realised something. Two things, really. Firstly was that by her saying that, Luke was safe and sound and _in Jasper_. Secondly, was that... "Hey...Sam..." he said slowly when he regained his composure, gaining her attention.

"Yeah?"

Riley then blushed before saying, "Uh...so if Luke is my mentor...and he's your father..." he trailed off before thinking of what to say. "Then how are we going to tell him about...you know..._us_?"

Sam just giggled and moved closer in towards him, their noses practically touching. "I guess we'll..." she started before kissing him, closing her eyes and savouring the kiss. He reciprocated before she opened her eyes broke off, looking into his eyes with a smirk at his blush, "figure it out..." she finished.

He took a moment to gaze into her ice-blue eyes, before smiling. "I like the way you think..."

"I know you do" she giggled before she was hit like a brick wall with information. She stopped in her tracks, a straight expression appearing on her face.

_I will join you again in physical form when your past reveals itself to you..._

"Sam...are you alright?" Riley asked, now worried at her blank expression. She turned to look at him with a smile.

"Riley, Toboe visited me in a dream last night. He made me forget everything he said...but told me when my past reveals itself to me I would remember!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening again. "My father was my past revealing itself to me! That's why I'm remembering now..." she stopped when a long humming sound was heard, and the blue sky began to roll into grey rain clouds. The rain began to pour heavily out of nowhere, and the sun was blocked out by the dark clouds that loomed above.

"What is happening!?" Riley shouted over the top of the loud humming and now thunder.

"It's him, Riley." Sam yelled back. "Don't you understand? It's Toboe!"

Then as if on cue, the clouds lit up with several shards of lightning that slung across the entirety of the visible sky out of the centre of the storm. Then, incredibly, it all retracted to that single point, sending a large bolt of lighting down from the heavens.

It was so fast, yet so brilliant, and before anyone knew it the bolt had touched the ground. Time seemed to stop. The lightning bolt stayed still in the centre of the small clearing at the heart of their pack, before the ground seemed to slowly vaporize in a perfect semicircle around it. It reached about two wolves length in diameter, before the lightning disappeared and a blinding flash slung a shock-wave across the earth making Riley and Sam fall backwards. The storm then stopped, the clouds dissipated as quickly as they had formed, the howling winds and humming drones died, and the sun shone it's rays upon Jasper once again.

Riley picked himself and stared at the figure laying still in the middle of the crater. "Sam...look" he said as she joined him by his side.

They looked at each other with a smile on their face, congruently smiling and saying, "Toboe."

* * *

**A/N**

**So I decided to split the chapter up because it was going to be too damn long...you don't want a 16,000 word chapter now do you...**

**Meh I'll cya in the next and and please leave a review to tell me what you think ;)**

**Have a good one!**


	22. Part Two - End: Convergence (10-II)

**A/N**

**Sorry, It's taken me a little while to get this chapter started what with writing the storyboard for this chapter and reading stories I promised other authors I'd read and such. Meh, anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. It took me a while and is a flippin' load of words.**

* * *

**Part Two - End**

**#10-II Convergence**

* * *

"Sam, we should get down there." Riley's voice cut through her dazed state.

"What?" she asked, disorientated, before she returned to her normal state of mind and remembered the events currently at hand. "Oh, right."

They both headed down the hill they had watched the spectacle upon with an aura of excitement and anxiety. _What does this mean? What is going on?_ These were the thoughts that were going through their heads as they approached the semicircular indentation in the ground. As they came upon it, they could see within and gaze upon the still form of the brown-red furred Toboe and the three silver rings that resided on his right foreleg. He didn't seem to be moving, apart from the constant repetition of his chest slowly rising and falling in time with his respiration.

"He's unconscious." Sam stated as she looked around the clearing. "We should get him out of here before we cause a scene."

Riley nodded in agreement and Sam helped lift Toboe onto Riley's back, carefully so as to not wake him. Luckily most wolves were out and about, doing their own things, and didn't take the time to investigate the strange weather. The only witnesses of Toboe's coming were Sam and Riley.

As they made their way towards the main den with Toboe still unconscious, Sam shared a thought that had been circulating in her mind since she remembered her conversation with Toboe.

"Hey Riley I have something I've been thinking about." Sam said, breaking the silence and getting his attention. "You know how I said about Toboe coming to me in a dream?" she asked and he nodded his head. "Because when I asked him why he came to me and not, say, you for example, he replied saying the he couldn't talk to himself. I didn't really get what he meant...do you have any ideas?"

Riley thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "No idea. But you could ask him when he wakes up."

"Good idea." She replied.

They made their way back to the main den in silence, as the weight of the situation finally registering in their minds. An entity which is thought to only exist in legend has appeared before them in physical form, motives partially unclear. How could they have possibly known just what they'd gotten themselves into?

They entered the den with confused expressions before Riley settled down Toboe by the side of the den, carefully trying not to disturb the sleeping wolf.

"Hello, Riley" Luke smiled from behind him.

"Oh...hi." Riley replied rather nonchalantly as he sat down next to Sam, staring at the wolf who was causing the confusion that encircled him. Riley was fairly stoked by Toboe's appearance and completely forgot the happiness he should have been feeling at the reuniting of him and Luke. Winston then noticed the extra wolf they'd brought with them, and digressed on the matter.

"Who is this?" he asked, looking at the peaceful form of Toboe before suddenly it was not so peaceful anymore. Toboe opened his eyes and looked at Winston and Luke, before an understanding came upon both their faces.

"I see." They both muttered.

Toboe then looked around the room to all the other wolves, making each and every one of them understand who he was. "You remember the stories don't you?" he asked, smiling cheerfully. Everyone nodded and smiled; Toboe's merry atmosphere was allowing everyone in the den to relax, and Riley finally overcame his blank confusion to realise what was actually happening.

"Luke! I'm so glad you're ok!" he exclaimed, a large smile on his face.

"Oh, so _now_ you realise I'm here?" Luke laughed in reply before he noticed something, his expression turning to one of shock. "What happened to you?" he asked, looking at the scar on Riley's chest. Will was now looking at it too. _Was that...my fault?_ Will asked himself.

"Oh, this? I'm okay now, but one of those wolves got on the train with me when I escaped and split open my artery." Riley replied. Luke's expression now changed once again, this time to a darker tone. Riley noticed this and felt ashamed. "I'm sorry I deserted you, Luke." He muttered, hanging his head. "Those wolves were on me and the best chance I had of finding you was to run-"

"-It's not you, Riley." Luke said, cutting Riley off. "You did very well and that was the right decision to make."

Leaving Riley to his confusion, Luke strolled over and stood in front of Will. All of a sudden Luke's form seemed way more threatening than when Will had previously fought him on the hill that night. _Oh God..._Will thought as he trembled in front of him. There was a glint of anger and vengeance in Luke's eyes as he stared into Will's. "Riley is ok, so I'm not going to kill you." Luke stated, making Will release his pent-up breath in relief. "However, I will give you two choices. Firstly; you can run away from here and never let me see your face again or I will kill you."

Luke wasn't going to let Will off easily.

"Or, you can apologise to Riley and suffer as he did." Luke finished as he smiled. _Choose the right one, kid._ Of course it wasn't about revenge upon Will, Luke wasn't so primal as to invest his thoughts on such a thing. He in fact wanted to _help_ Will, much like how he helped Riley. How could Will ever grow out of what he was born into if he didn't have any help? Luke was giving him a choice; to either run away and not face his upbringing, or take the punishment and move on.

_This is going to hurt_ Will thought, but he knew it was the right thing to do. "Riley...you might not remember me but I'm sorry for what I did to you." Will said, tensing for what he thought would come next.

"It's ok. I knew who you were when I saw you, but since Luke had said nothing to me I figured we were cool." Riley said. "I forgive you."

When nothing came, Will opened his eyes to see Luke smiling.

"If Riley forgives you, then I forgive you." Luke simply said as he walked back over by Winston and sat down. "Oh, Riley, I presume you've met my _daughter_, Sam?"

"Yes..." Riley trailed off as he cast a sidelong glance to Sam, who reacted in kind.

"What was that glance?" Luke questioned.

"Oh, nothing." Sam and Riley said at the same time. Luke stared at them both, watching as they looked slightly away from each other.

"Say, _Riley_, when you came here you were badly injured, correct?" Luke then asked.

"Yeah..." Riley replied, unsure to what Luke was getting at.

"In that case, Winston was telling me before about how Sam is the pack healer." Luke said, his lips curving into a sly smile. "You would have spent quite some time with her whilst you were recuperating...am I right?" Despite only having a small amount to go on, Luke's deductive skills were superb and outmatched.

"Yeah..." Riley blushed, unable to hide anything any longer. "What are you getting at?"

"Oh nothing." Luke just shrugged before he realised something. "Oh, I have a surprise for you-" he began, but was cut off by the sound of paws on the ground outside the den entrance.

Everyone turned to see Yoshino, Kate, Winter, Humphrey and two well-known birds enter the den. It turned out that Marcel and Paddy had flown in to go say hi, and explained the situation of Luke to them all.

"Who is that?" Kate asked, looking over to Toboe. "Is he ok?"

Riley turned his head, not knowing what was wrong with Toboe before he noticed he'd fallen unconscious again. _Why do you keep on falling unconscious when we need to ask you important questions? _Riley thought.

_Because it's tiring converting from spirit to mortal, give me a break! _a voice said in his head. All of a sudden, everything around Riley turned dark and he was enveloped in a blackness. "What the..." he trailed off as he saw a small red-brown wolf in front of him. "Toboe?"

The wolf turned his head to show a cheerful smile, "Hello! It looks like we finally established our psychic link. Took us a while though...it's normally opened when a wolf comes close to dying."

"I'm sorry...what? What's going on?" Riley asked, confused. He had no idea what was going on, or what Toboe was spouting about.

"Ok, I know you have a lot of questions so why don't I just answer the all in one go?" Toboe asked. "Ask me all the questions you need to know and I'll answer all of them."

Riley seemed to think for a moment. It was going to take a while to remember all the questions.

After a couple of minutes, he figured out his questions. "Ok, so." Riley began. "I would like to know what you're doing here as a mortal, why you saved me at the expense of another wolf's life, what a psychic link is and I would like a general explanation on things."

Toboe smiled before he laughed. "Well, you certainly made it easy for me." he chuckled. "I can answer them all in one go heaps easy. Ok, so, you know the story about the four wolves, right? The one with Kiba, Tsume, Hige and myself?" he asked, and Riley nodded. "Good. That's all true. The four of us are all angels created by God to watch over the creatures of Earth. Since Kiba, Tsume and Hige all went to paradise, what do you think God would do? He made it so there would be four wolves in every generation that would take the roles of the original wolves and have psychic links with them. Which is why you have a psychic link with me; you're the Toboe of this generation. I think that answers the question of why I saved you. Oh but don't be going and getting yourself injured like that again, you're the only wolf I can heal but now that I'm mortal my powers are limited to this psychic link and only minor healing."

Toboe was about to start speaking again but Riley now had more questions to ask, and Riley was very confused and taken aback. "You mean to say that...I'm one of these...what do you call us?"

"Well, you aren't angels because you're mortal but we do name you after the mythological creature of protection; the Phoenix. We found it fitting because Phoenixes tend to be reborn out of its ashes when it dies. Which brings me to another point; I've noticed the presence of another Phoenix in the area. Judging by it's aura, I'd say it's the Kiba of this generation but I can't pinpoint where it is."

"What really?" Riley asked, surprised. "Never mind we can talk about that later. Back to what we were talking about, I'm one of these...Phoenixes...and I'm supposed to watch over the creatures of the Earth?"

"Yes." Toboe replied. "Oh and by the way whilst we're in this psychic link, the brain works faster so every second in the real world is five or so minutes in here. When you return to reality you'll be back at about the same time you left, and you're leaving now because I don't have enough energy to continue the link any longer. I suspect I'll be in a coma for about a week. Sorry I can't answer any more questions, but I promise I'll answer them when I wake up."

"No wait! One more question; who is the enemy? Who is the leader of the Revolution?" Riley asked quickly.

"It's the demon...Darcia..."

With that, the blackness left Riley and he was back in the den.

"Riley, what's wrong?" Sam's voice penetrated his mind again as he turned to look at her.

"Hmm?"

"You zoned out for a second there. Everything alright?" she asked him. Suddenly all the events of his psychic link with Toboe came back to him and he looked around, trying to make sense of what was currently going on in the den. He noted everything; Kate, Yoshino, Winter and Humphrey had entered the den and Kate was saying something, Luke had an annoyed look on his face like he was interrupted, Winston had a look of surprise on his face, Toboe was still unconscious on the ground and Sam was trying to get his attention. There was just so much sound coming at him all at once and he just couldn't take it, not after what he'd just experienced.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP! PLEASE!" He yelled, making the den fall silent as all eyes turned to him. "I have something to say, urgently." With that everyone seemed to stop and just listen to him as he took a deep breath. "As you might have figured out by now, this is Toboe." He said as he motioned to the unconscious wolf. Humphrey and Kate's eyes widened, as did Winter's. Yoshino kept his eyes on Riley as he continued speaking. "Toboe has just told me something that I feel I must relay to you all, but first," Riley paused as he turned to Will, "I need _you_ to tell me who the leader of the Revolution is. What is their name?"

Will looked at him quizzically, not understanding why he'd want to know but he shrugged his shoulders and complied. "His name is Gin. He's a ruthless murderer who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals."

Riley thought for a moment before continuing. "Well, we all know the story, right? With the four wolves and the demon?" he asked and they nodded their heads. "Toboe has told me that somewhere in the heart of the Revolution, lies that demon...Darcia."

"What!?" Will exclaimed. "There's no way that Gin is some demon. I can tell."

"Then that means Gin must consult with Darcia, and we need to find Darcia." Riley replied. "We need to find Darcia and take him out, that way the Revolution will leave everyone alone for the rest of time."

"You can't just go in there like that, Riley." Luke said. "It takes time to organise something like that."

Riley just chuckled. "Of course it will take time! That's why with Will's help, we can scout out the Revolution over the course of several months-"_  
_

"No, you can't do that." Will interrupted. "They won't be in the one spot much longer."

Riley was about to ask why, but Winston beat him to it. "How do you know this?" he asked.

"Because, I was one of the top-ranking lieutenants." Will replied before he thought of something. "Hold on...this wouldn't happen to be the United Pack, would it?"

"What? Yes, it is..." Winston replied. "Why?"

Will shook his head in dismay. "We're in more trouble than first thought, then. The United Pack is their next target and they'll be moving to a closer position soon."

"That gives us even more reason to go!" Riley exclaimed. "How long do you think it'll take before they move again?"

"Well, judging by the fact that they just finished off the last pack, I'd say maybe a week tops." Will replied and Winter stifled back a growl.

_That was...my pack..._ she thought as she trembled. Yoshino noticed and comforted her. "It's ok..." He said to her. "We have a chance at redemption, and I won't let them get away with what they've done."

"Thanks" she whispered back.

"What? That gives us no time! Do you know where the next spot is?" Riley asked.

"No, I have no idea unfortunately. All I know is that it'll be closer to here." Will replied.

_This means...we're going to have to leave as soon as possible if we're going to have any chance at finding out their next position!_ Riley thought. _I need to ask Winston if we can leave the next morning._ "Winston, I take it you know that the pack is in serious danger, right?" Riley asked as Winston nodded his head. "Well I think we all know what needs to be done here...we need to leave ASAP if we're going to have any chance at gaining intel before they attack us."

"What are you planning, Riley?" Winston asked. "Do you want to use that team of yours to find their base?"

"That's exactly what I plan on doing." Riley replied. "I think we should leave in the morning if we're going to be traveling a long distance."

Winston was about to reply before Luke cut in. "Riley, I have a surprise for you first."

"What is it?" Riley asked, wondering what Luke could possibly have for him at a time like this. "Is this relevant?"

Luke just grinned before saying, "No, but I'm sure you'd like to meet your brother."

* * *

**A/N**

**So, I decided to cut this chapter _again_ due to length and also because I thought you might like to read it sooner. Also, 300 REVIEWS! Thank you all so much for reviewing! This story is so fun for me to write, and is great practice! **

**Sorry about the cliffhanger though xD. I thought is was a good place to stop.**

**Oh well, have a good one and please leave a review with your thoughts! **


	23. Part Two - End: Love is Enough (10-III)

**A/N**

**Firstly I'd like to give a shoutout to one of my good friends on the site, Loverwolfs1121, and his story "A Warriors Death". It's a great story with a good plot, great characters and intense twists. I added an easter egg from his story in chapter 18 (Part Two #8 Inception). I'll let you know again at the end of the chapter so you can go read it once you've read this chapter ;).**

**Hopefully this is going to be the last part of the last chapter of Part Two xD.**

**Meh, let's pick up where we left off.**

* * *

**Part Two - End**

**#10-III Love is Enough**

* * *

Balto, Jenna and Boris were sitting and waiting on the outskirts of the territory, waiting for permission to enter the territory. Hutch had been assigned to watch over them until Winston howled for them to enter. However all the waiting was making Balto become restless and impatient. He was so close to meeting his brother, yet unable to see him.

"Why can't you just let me go see him?" Balto was saying. "I'm his brother, I pose no threat to this pack. I just want to see him!"

"I'm sorry." Hutch replied. "As much as I see the resemblance between you two, I have orders."

Balto was about to reply before he noticed what Hutch just said. "Wait, you can see the resemblance?" he asked and Hutch nodded. "Wow...that's cool. I haven't seen him in nearly three years and we still strike a resemblance? Wicked!"

Jenna laughed at his excitement as he smiled at her, and she returned his smile. They gazed into each other's eyes before Boris broke the tension with a loud _ahem_. They both turned to see him with his brow raised. "I'm no threat to them, so I'll be going on ahead to meet up with Paddy and Marcel" Boris said, before muttered something about "getting a room".

Balto just rolled his eyes as Jenna closed the gap between them and gave him a kiss. "Jenna wait" he said before she did anything else, motioning to the still form of Hutch who was sitting down. "What about-" but he was cut-off by her cute giggle.

"He's not watching." she said as she kissed him again, allowing him to whimper slightly from the touch.

However just as the kiss got more intense a howl pierced their ears, stopping them in their tracks. "That'd be the sound of your entry" Hutch smiled as he turned around, not fast enough to see the couple break apart. "I'll take you to the main den."

"Thank you" Balto replied as they followed him into the territory, both he and Jenna hiding their blushing faces.

* * *

"WHAT!?" Riley exclaimed in shock. "H-how is this possible!?"

Luke just smiled, understanding Riley's confusion. "I know I said that he died, but I never witnessed it. I was going on the description you gave me back then, about how you saw your brother get hit into the river by a bear, so I made a decision based on the likelihood that he survived. That likelihood was about a 5% chance." he said to Riley, calming him down a bit.

"So...you met my brother?" Riley asked slowly.

"Yes, and to tell you what, I only found him because I thought he was you." Luke replied, and Riley became confused once more. "You two both look very similar, and from a distance it was nearly impossible to tell." Luke then added.

"This is...wow." Riley said, taken aback. Sam shifted beside him with excitement, a large smile on her face. "What are you so cheerful about?" he asked as he noticed.

"This is great!" she replied. "This is what you wanted, right? To be able to see your family?" she then asked.

"Yeah, definitely!" Riley exclaimed as he grinned back at her. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before he turned back to Winston.

Luke had watched the whole thing with amusement. _Interesting _he thought.

"Winston, these events haven't changed." Riley said. "I'm still wanting to leave at least tomorrow to..."

For Sam, the rest of the conversation was a blur. Her eyes widened as a critical piece of information returned to her, and she felt her heart leap out of her chest. Her breathing rapidly increased as she watched Riley's mouth move silently, the words not registering with her mind during her realisation, with everything seeming as if it was in slow motion.

She moved her gaze to his brilliant grey fur that had seemed to have grown lighter, now a shade that closer resembled white than black. Her brow furrowed as she wondered why that was before her gaze once more guided itself up his body to his eyes. His deep-blue eyes, singed with a shade of purple, were absolutely magnificent and stunning. She watched them as they darted throughout the meeting, filled with intelligence, ingenuity and bold determination.

She smiled at how those eyes, as if a portal into his soul, spoke of his outgoing nature and personality. The deep blue spoke serenity yet conviction also, as well as calculation and cunning. The singed purple spoke determination, passion, kindness and ability.

She sighed a deep, infatuated sigh at the longevity of the situation. An infatuated sigh for her to-be mate, remembering the words Toboe had _apparently_ taken out of her memory. She remembered those words now again and smiled, before she realised why his fur had changed and it all clicked together.

"What do you think, Sam?" Riley's voice penetrated her thoughts, stopping her slowed-down version of events and bringing her back to reality.

"H-huh?" she asked, clearly having not been listening. "Sorry...I spaced out..."

Riley just rolled his eyes before telling her. "We're leaving tomorrow morning for the Revolution so that we can find out where their next base will be, and that way we can plan out an attack" he said, making sure she understood everything. "So far, we have Yoshino, Winter, Will and I. Luke's going to be staying here to help coordinate defences. What are you going to do? Join us?" he then asked.

"What? Yes, of course!" Sam exclaimed. "As if I'd let you go without me to watch your sorry ass. You'd be killed without a doubt" she mocked. "After all, you are..." she began, making Riley's eyes to go wide, hoping she wasn't going to say what he thought she was going to say, "...always needing my help when you go and get your neck sliced open" she finished, suppressing a mischievous smirk. He let out a silent sigh of thankfulness that she didn't just reveal them to Luke.

_You are such a tease _Riley thought as he narrowed his eyes, looking into hers.

_Yeah, well I couldn't resist_ she thought in reply, before both their eyes widened and they stared at each other in shock.

"What's wrong?" Winston asked, wondering just what they were so shocked about. Riley quickly shook his head before chuckling slightly.

"Oh nothing, I was just remembering what happened" Riley replied before he coughed awkwardly, pretending as if he was uncomfortable with talking about the night he got there. "It was a rather unpleasant experience."

"I agree, there was way too much blood for me to handle" Sam said akin to Riley's own fake confession, also pretending to be distraught by the past events. Their eyes reconnected once more, allowing their concentration to link them again.

_As surprised as I am about this, we'll talk about it later _Riley said, and she nodded. For the others the nod wasn't out of place, as just they thought it was just an affirmation about the unpleasantness of the previous situation.

"So, what's going to happen here when we're gone?" Riley asked as he spoke up, wondering the fates of Humphrey and Kate.

"Well, I do believe I'll be training Humphrey, but I'd like to ask Luke for help on this; I heard of his training for you Riley, and I understand he'd be able to train Humphrey much faster and more professionally" Winston replied as he turned to Luke. "As well as helping prepare for war, which reminds me. I need to call Tony over here; he needs to be a part of this meeting."

Riley noticed Luke froze at those words, his eyes widening. He looked up to see Riley smiling at him, and Riley nodded to him, as if to say "_It's OK, you know what to do." _Luke smiled back in return, as if to say "_Thanks_".

"I'll go fetch him" Luke spoke up, shocking the two wolves who knew about his past. "Tell me where his den is."

"Are you sure that's the best idea?" Winston asked, whom had conversed with Luke earlier whilst in wait for Sam to fetch Riley.

"Yeah Luke...are you sure about this?" Riley chimed in.

"I think I've got it covered, do you remember what I told you?" Luke said, and Riley grew reminiscent of the conversation he'd had a year or so back.

_"Of course I forgive him though" Luke said, completely taking Riley by surprise._

_"What!? Why? Why should you forgive a wolf who should have been taking care of you that practically sentenced you to death?" Riley voice rose in crescendo as he stood up._

_"Because, I know he regrets it. He was one of the most heart-warming and caring young wolves I knew. He was always bright and bubbly, never down in life. Just two weeks before her death, their only pup was born and I had the honour of delivering him myself. They both couldn't think of a name so I suggested they name him Garth and they both said they loved the name and stuck with it. I realise now that Grace's death would have impacted so deep in Tony's mind on two different levels. One being that his mate was gone forever, and two; his son wouldn't have a mother to care for him and love him as he grew up. All of that must have just made him go over the edge. Do you remember how I told you about how I used to be in a pack in Alaska that was attacked by the Revolution? Well, Tony and I were a part of that pack when it was attacked before we ran with the rest of the pack into Alberta to create a new pack. We were great friends, so I know he regrets it, and I hope one day he can know that I forgive him" Luke finished before he walked out of the den, leaving Riley to his thoughts._

"Of course I do" Riley replied with a smile. "You're right. This is the perfect opportunity. Good luck." He then watched as Luke quickly conversed again with Winston, presumably getting directions, before getting up and walking up and out the entrance. "Well then, the plan tomorrow is to-" Riley began but was cut-off by the sound of Luke talking to someone outside.

"Yeah, they're all in there. He's in there too, but I'll be back later" Luke's voice called to someone outside, and Riley's eyes widened. The time had come.

Riley watched the entrance curiously before a wolf with a dark-grey pelt entered, his sparkling yellow eyes meeting the blue and purple singed ones and gazing into them. For a moment the den was in complete silence before a wide grin spread across Balto's face, akin to the one forming on Riley's face.

Then the den was quiet no more as a rather loud "Balto!" erupted from Riley when he pounced from where he was sitting right onto Balto, sending the two of them rolling past a startled Jenna and out of the den.

"What the..." Jenna began before she saw it was completely useless to interrupt the two brothers sprawled on the ground, wrestling each other, so she strolled into the den to be met with surprised faces. "I suppose that's a given if Riley is anything like Balto" she mused as she sat down in the nearest free space, waiting for the brothers' reunion to end.

* * *

Balto sat shocked in the den, having just heard his brother's plan. He'd already gotten over the shock of finding his brother again, but now he was faced with an even bigger situation. He couldn't go back with Riley, not when the Revolution planned to attack the United Pack before the Nome pack.

"I've decided I'm coming with you" he spoke up, gathering attention from the den. "To get the info on the Revolution. They're a threat to us, the Nome Pack, as well."

"Alright then, fair enough" Winston replied, before he looked outside and noticed that it was getting dark outside. "However I think we need to adjourn this meeting for now for the people leaving tomorrow, that way they can get some rest. The rest of you can stay here and continue planning."

That was the short and abrupt ending to the presence of Riley's team at the meeting, and the first plans of attack and defence began to be made.

It'd been decided that Jenna would stay in the United Pack to also help make plans but it was also her idea to send for help from Nome. They could finally take down the Revolution in a single effort of conjoined packs, and hopefully they'll be able to gain more than just the three.

When Boris finally arrived after ironically searching for Marcel and Paddy, whom were in the den the whole time, both he and Marcel and Paddy were charged with the duty of flying back to the Nome Pack to tell Rain of the situation in Jasper. Balto had also given a private message to Boris to give to Rain, telling of how he'd found Riley who was currently a part of another pack and was helping them to defend against the Revolution.

Tony had broken down when he'd realised who was standing before him when Luke found his den, shooting apologies and begging for redemption and forgiveness. Luke gave him it all, saying that if Tony hadn't cast him out he'd never had found Riley. He'd then explained the loss of Leah and how he had a daughter named Sam in the Western Pack, adding even more to the heaviness on Tony's heart. Heaviness that was soon lifted by Luke, who once again had told him that he never would have had the life he had with Riley despite not being able to be with his daughter. Luke said that it was out of Tony's control that she was lost.

When Luke had gotten back to the den with Tony, they were great friends once more.

As Riley sat out on the hill by Sam's den, still blushing at what Luke had told him and Sam after they left, he looked up to the stars and sighed. He remembered the words once more, and silently thanked that Sam was down the hill in her den organising some of her supplies so they she couldn't see his crimson face.

_"Hey Riley, Sam, wait up!" Luke's voice came from the entrance the main den. Balto and Jenna were still in there because Balto didn't want to leave Jenna, and Humphrey and Kate were also discussing with Winston still. Yoshino and Winter were assigned their dens, Marcel, Paddy and Boris began their flight to Nome, and Will also remained in the main den, having no-where else to go and possessing crucial information._

_"What is it Luke?" Riley asked him as he caught up to them._

_"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to let you know..." he trailed off and raised his brow, "...I see everything going on here." Their reaction was priceless._

_"W-what? Really?" Riley asked, gobsmacked. Sam was showing the same response._

That wasn't even the worst of it, either.

_"Yeah, and I just wanted to say I'm proud of the both of you. I'm just so happy that I was re-united with not just you, Riley, but I found my long-lost daughter as well" Luke said, making both Riley and Sam smile. "I'll be sure to see you guys off in the morning. Oh and one more thing, Sam; did you know I was five months younger than the both of you when Leah, your mother, was pregnant with you?"_

_"No, I didn't" Sam replied, raising her brow as to what he was getting at. "Why?"_

_"Oh, no reason" he replied before he turned and started walking back to the main den, leaving Sam and Riley puzzled. Luke then turned around with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I was just saying..." he began as his lips curved into smirk. "...so have fun" he finished before he scooted back into the main den, narrowly missing the stone Riley'd thrown at him._

_"LUKE!" Sam and Riley yelled congruently after him in anger before they looked at each other, their faces eternally growing crimson._

Riley shook his head to himself, letting out a frustrated sigh of annoyance. _Damn you Luke...why do you have to be so..._his eyes widened again and he blushed furthermore..._open._

_"_Oi you" Sam's voice came from the side of the hill as she walked up it. She was done with arranging her to den for her to be away for a while, making sure all her medicines where in the right places. "You've known my father longer than I have, was he always so..." she began before a blush came upon her cheeks._  
_

"He's annoying at times I can tell you that" Riley replied with a chuckle as he sat down next to him and let out a sigh, exhausted. She leant into him and nuzzled his neck, a feeling he really enjoyed, before she gave him a lick on the cheek.

"How's it feel to have your brother back?" she asked him with a smile.

"It's wonderful. I thought he was dead all these years...but he just pops out of no-where!" Riley exclaimed, making Sam laugh. "I'm just really happy..." he trailed off and Sam put her head on his neck, and he put his head on top of hers.

"Riley...you know your fur has changed...don't you?" she asked softly, before he gave her a puzzled look. "Your fur colour is...lighter than when I first met you."

Riley's eyes widened as he remembered yet another one of Luke's teachings.

_"I've noticed this throughout a long time as a healer; sometimes wolves can undergo changes when they find their soul-mate. These changes can be anything from mental to physical, and are often changes in mood. In rare cases, it can even change the wolf's fur colour slightly. Nothing drastic, mostly just contrast._

Riley's temperature rose as he looked to the beautiful wolf beside him and smiled to hide his trepidation. "O-oh...r-really? I-I didn't notice...why d-do you think it's changed?" he asked her shakily, silently hoping she didn't know why his fur had changed. _It's hopeless...she's a healer..._he thought with dismay.

She just giggled lightly and laid her head back down on his shoulder, shutting her eyes and letting out a satisfied sigh. "I don't think you'd want me to tell you" was all she said, before Riley's face flushed. _She knows..._ "But I want to know what the heck happened back there...were you in my mind?" she then asked, and he remembered the strange occurrence as well.

"I have no idea, either. I think we may have to ask Toboe about this when he wakes up" Riley replied.

"Or not..." Sam trailed off before she pounced on Riley, rolling them over until he was on his back and she was lying on top of him. She looked deep into his eyes, ignoring his rosy red cheeks that had appeared before she leant in and gave him a passionate kiss. Despite being surprised, he reciprocated in kind and savoured the kiss before she broke it and giggled lightly. "What I mean by that, is that I know both of the answers."

Riley froze. _Both of those questions? How..._ he thought to himself. "R-Really? Tell m-me" he smiled, knowing she knew it would embarrass him. "I'll be fine."

Sam smiled before she decided to not tease him any further, and tell him what she knew. If she knew, then he had a right to know too. It affected him as well. "Alright then..." she began in a soft tone, running her paw along his cheek, "...which one do you want to know first?"

"Uh...let's go with the fur-change first..." Riley said, thinking it was better to go with what he knew first.

"Good choice. The reason your fur has changed colour, is because you've most like found a suitable mate" she said simply, before giggling. "But I know you already knew that; Luke would've told you. And I knew _before_ your fur changed."

He was about to reply before he realised what she said. "H-Huh? What do you mean?" Riley began, wondering how she knew.

"Well...back when I talked with Toboe in that dream...he told me I would be your future mate, and you, mine. He actually let it slip, and _supposedly _erased it from my memory."

Riley's eyes widened, and suddenly he felt isolated with the wind softly blowing the grass around them. Then he smiled. "I know you're telling the truth..." he began, before he playfully rolled them both over until he was on top of the now-surprised Sam, "...because I know I want you to be my mate."

It was now Sam's turn to blush as he leant in and kissed her. She was shocked at his confession, not thinking he would've been willing to share that this soon. After exhilarating their emotions for a few moments, Riley softly broke the kiss and licked her on the cheek.

"But...do tell me what you know of how I could hear your thoughts before, and you my own" he spoke up, breaking the silence between them.

"Toboe told me just before we left" she replied. "Because you're a Phoenix, Toboe said that you are able to communicate through thoughts to your...mate."

"Really? That's awesome!" Riley exclaimed, before realising something. "Hey, Sam...we're not mates yet, though."

"I know, and I asked him about that..." she replied, before giving a courteous sly smile, "...and it's because we're _going_ to be mates."

Once again, Riley's eyes widened before he blushed and looked away. "D-did he happen to mention...w-when..." he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"No...but..." she said, a mischievous glint worthy of Luke's appearing in her eyes, "...I remember my father's opinion on the matter" she finished, making him remember Luke's parting words earlier. He then froze at her words, and she took the opportunity to quickly exchange their positions so that she was back on top of him. "And I'm sure you remember too...so what's _your _opinion?" she asked as she smiled slyly, making his temperature rise even higher and his heart beat faster.

"I-I don't k-know...Sam..." he replied shakily, extremely anxious about what could possibly happen in the next few moments. "I m-mean...we've only been _together_ f-for a few d-days now..." he said before she cut him off with her paw and smiled at him.

"I know...but it _is_ going to happen eventually...no denying that" she said slyly before giggling again. "I was only teasing."

Riley then felt his anxiousness fall away, his body now back under his control. He sighed a sigh of relief before giving her a kiss. "I promise, though" Riley then said to her after they broke it. She looked at him with a brow raised. "If that's what you want...tell me when..." he asked, taking a deep breath. He was actually really nervous about it...he didn't even know _why_ he'd just blurted that out, knowing full well Sam's vivacious and mischievous nature. "J-just..." he began as his eyes shifted away slightly, and exhaled his pent-up air, "...not too s-soon."

Sam giggled at how the situation of...doing _it_...was so daunting and nerve-racking for him. She then gave him a smile laced with mischief, and gave him a '_really?'_ look. "You're gonna trust that decision to me? Of all people? I _could_ just say...now" she teased, making him roll his eyes, before her expression changed to one of serious nature. "But seriously though...you're really wanting me to decide?" she asked him, and he nodded his head. He then gave her a heart-warming smile, now knowing it really _did_ mean a lot to her. "Ok...how about..." she began before she nuzzled in this fur again and rubbed her cheeks just under his neck, "...when we get back?" she finished, a cute smile on her lips.

_That's closer than I'd like, but then again, anything would be closer than I'd like.._.Riley thought before he have her a smile. "It's settled then" he spoke up, before rolling Sam off of his chest and standing up, "although right now I'm not tired at all...and I really feel like wrestling and playing with Balto like I did before..." he trailed off, knowing she probably wouldn't be interested.

However just as he let out a sigh, he felt a large force in his side that sent him and the assailant sprawling and rolling over each other on the ground. When they came to a stop the victor, Sam, laid on top of him with a condescending smile on her face. Riley's mouth then curved into a competitive smile before he flipped her over and pinned her, laughing and growling playfully.

They continued this, pinning and re-pinning the other whilst laughing, growling and nipping at each other playfully, until eventually they were tired-out and laid flat on the ground panting heavily.

"That...was...fun" Riley panted, clearly exhausted. Sam on the other hand, was also completely puffed out, but smiling gleefully.

"Yeah...it...was" she panted back, before an idea came to her mind. "I'll..be right...back" she panted, before she got up and began walking down the mountain.

"Ok..." Riley wheezed out. He then blushed when he realised...Sam didn't win because he let her. In fact, he went all out. Sam just_...won..._because she was simply better at using her own and his weight effectively. _She's certainly trained well..._he thought as he laid in the grass with the cool wind blowing, completely immobilised. _How does she have the strength to even get up..._

Meanwhile, Sam was down by the lake in front of her den, getting a drink. She finished lapping up the water, and looked in the reflection to see her ice-blue eyes staring back at her from the depths of reality. _I can wait until then..._she thought to herself with a smile. _I don't want him to be uncomfortable...but I'm sure he'll agree with what else I have in mind _she thought as she stared more intently at her own ice-blue pools. _Wait a second..._she thought as she looked a little closer, the scuttled back from the water in shock with her eyes wide. Despite the shock she had a slight smile on her face when she slowly crept back to the water's edge once more, wondering if she was imagining things.

When she got back to the water and looked at her eyes again, her mouth opened wide in shock. Because staring back at her, was not just her ice-blue eyes...but her ice-blue eyes with something else.

_It's a green tinge..._she thought, before wondering if this was a trick that God was playing on her. "Really..." she muttered aloud. Although despite being sceptical, she was silently very happy because whenever she looked into Riley's eyes, she always felt captivated by them and their charm. _Well now, maybe I can charm him with my own_ she thought before wondering when they'd changed.

That morning she'd looked into the stream and they'd been the same old ice-blue, and Riley would've noticed it before when they were looking into each other's eyes.

_That means...it must've happened either just now or when we were playing..._she thought before her eyes widened again. _He hasn't seen them yet!_

Just as she was figuring out how to break it to him, she heard footsteps coming from her side.

"Hey Sam, so this is where you ran off to" Riley's voice spoke out. She froze, focusing her widened eyes away from Riley's view as her temperature rose.

"H-hey..." she stuttered back, before deciding that she should just forget about her eyes for now and ask him what she wanted to ask him before. "Riley, can I ask you something?"

"You just did" Riley replied, before getting a '_did you really just use that cliché' _look from her. For a second he thought something was different about her, then dismissed the idea as he grinned smugly. "Fine...go ahead."

"Ok, to put it simply...I don't want to relive anything like what happened with..." she trailed off, before grimacing, "...Liam...again" she finished as she looked away. He then nuzzled her to let her know he was there for her, and she smiled at the feeling. "So...I want to be yours. That way I won't have to worry about anything...like that...happening again."

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Riley asked, before noticing something different about her again, but he couldn't quite get his head to focus on it.

"Yes..." she trailed off, before jumping on him and landing on his chest, a common occurrence that night. "Would you do that for me?"

Her eyes widened when he flipped them once more and he gazed into her eyes and smirked. _Well, it looks like he noticed..._Sam thought. "Of course I would do that for you...especially now that _you've_ gone through a change as well..." he trailed off as he leant in and kissed her.

"I see you noticed" Sam stated, blushing as he licked her cheek.

"You think I wouldn't have?" he chuckled before let out a sigh. "I think you look absolutely stunning, your eyes are absolutely amazing! Not that they weren't before, though."

"T-thanks..." replied, smiling widely. "So...are you sure you want to?" she then asked, remembering his agreement.

"Definitely...we're going to be mates anyway, so why not? If you want to, then I'm not going to deny it from you" Riley replied as a large grin spread across her face. "But I'm warning you...it's going to hurt-"

Sam took the opportunity to flip them and pin him, carefully avoiding his scar and placing her jaws on Riley's skin between his left shoulder and neck. "-Yeah..." Sam mumbled through her grip on his skin, starting to apply pressure. "That's why you're going first..." she finished as she started to bite down, tasting his blood in her mouth.

Marking your mate was the oldest of sacred wolf traditions, used to show that you were taken. Permanently.

However as Sam bit down harder, she couldn't help but feel his pain. As much as it hurt her, she knew the deeper she went, the longer the mark would stay. That's why when Riley started to shudder from the pain, she kept him pinned and bit down harder.

Riley's eyes were wide, and the intense pain he was feeling kept on increasing as Sam bit down harder on one of the most pain-inducing spot on his body. That's what made it so special; the intense pain each of the wolves took was for their mate, and the flesh would be imprinted with the scar.

The pain was so much that Riley now began to feel tears build up in his eyes. Then, when Sam decided she'd gone deep enough, she released her hold on his flesh and began to lick and clean the wound, licking up the blood so it wouldn't stain his fur. Riley on the other hand had only just managed to regain his breathing as he'd been panting from the pain. He then smiled weakly when she finished licking his wound, before he flipped them once more.

He looked down to her before leaning in and giving her another passionate kiss, ignoring the searing pain coming from his shoulder. "If it's any consolation to you..." he began, and she thought he was going to say something like '_the pain dies down after a bit'_, before he smiled a little guiltily, "...it hurts like hell."

He then winced when he felt her paw punch him on his right shoulder, and she took a deep breath. "Just get it over with" she said, and he gave her a lick on the cheek.

"I love you..." he said softly as he moved his jaws to her left shoulder and let his teeth take hold of her skin.

"I-I love you too..." she said as she shut her eyes, only to have them open wide again as his teeth punctured her shoulder and she moaned in pain. Riley screwed his eyes shut as he bit down harder, tasting the unsavoury blood as it entered his mouth. The pain was unbearable for Sam, but she'd endure it for him.

However, despite wanting this, Sam couldn't control her body with her natural instincts telling her to remove herself from the situation of pain. She began squirming underneath Riley's grip, and was glad when his grip tightened and kept her from moving.

He bit harder.

Sam's pupils began to dilate and tears began to stream down her face, before eventually the pain dulled and all she could feel was Riley's tongue against her shoulder. She couldn't help but smile at the feeling of his tongue against her skin, even if he was cleaning the blood away.

He pulled away after he finished before he looked into her eyes and smiled. "All done now" he said as he leant forward and gently licked the tears away from her face.

"Thank you" was all she said before the two embraced each other, and kissed each other passionately into the night.

Unfortunately for them, they'd stayed up so late that there was no chance of having a good, long, sleep before they left. Despite their important task the next morning, they'd been ignorant in the need to get to sleep. Next morning was the beginning of retribution. Next morning...was the beginning of events that would go down in wolf history forever.

Next morning, the _real_ chaos began.

* * *

**A/N**

**FINALLY the ending to Part Two. Part Three begins next chapter. Hopefully it'll be out soon, but I'm going to begin taking my time with this story. I've had a long enough break (despite writing many other different things, including Catharsis which I recommend you read) so I figured I should use the holidays as effectively as possible.**

**Until then, remember to check out Loverwolfs1121's story, and have a good one!**


	24. Part Three: Obscurity (1)

**A/N**

**I'm not dead!**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Part Three**

**#1 Obscurity**

* * *

When Riley awoke to the harshness of the sun's rays he couldn't help but feel groggy, letting out a large yawn as he stretched. Both he and Sam had slept in the grass on the hill next to her den, so there was no remorse from the blinding morning sun.

He then licked his dry lips and rolled his shoulder blades, only to stop when he felt a dull pain remind him of the previous nights events and he turned to look at his wound. His eyes widened when he saw how..._visible_...it was.

_Everyone's going to think that we...that we_...his thoughts trailed off when he heard Sam move beside him. She opened her eyes sleepily and looked at him and smiled cutely before rolling over, stretching and getting up. "Good morning" she greeted cheerfully before giving him a light peck on the cheek, raising a brow at his blank expression. "What's up with you? Too late a night?" she giggled as she rubbed her head under his neck, making a shiver run down his spine that brought him out of his blank state.

"No...I was just...Good morning..." he said, somewhat dazed, before looking to her and smiling. She giggled cutely at his confused manner. "Yeah, you could say that I'm somewhat tired..."

"Well, I'm sorry about that. I guess I couldn't help but start a wrestling match that _you_ wanted" she said matter-of-factly, rolling her eyes. "Next time you want to play, don't tell me the night before we need to leave on an important mission!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah but you had fun, didn't you?" he asked with smug grin.

"Actually...yeah, I did" she replied. "I haven't just played and messed around with anyone since I was a pup. Not since before Kate and I had our responsibilities."

Riley then took upon the liberty to grin cheekily, holding back a chuckle. Sam turned to see his face and was not amused, so she just rolled her eyes and let out a sigh which made him grin even more. "I don't suppose you'd like to more often? What do you think? Because you definitely are such a..." he paused as she gave him a 'don't say it' look and he grinned mischievously. "...pup" he finished with a smile, narrowly dodging her leap towards him. "Woah...feisty there, eh?" he chuckled. However just as she was about to jump at him again, both their ears twitched and alerted them to an approaching wolf. They both turned to find Luke walking up the hill towards them.

He approached before sitting down with his brow raised, looking between the two wolves before him. He then looked at them skeptically.

"You didn't actually take my words...literally...did you?" he asked them, their cheeks turning red.

"N-no...it's not what you think!" Riley blurted out, having to rely on Sam to explain it to Luke. _Thank God the other wolves aren't awake and won't be awake before we leave _he thought to himself.

* * *

Not even five minutes later, the wolves of Riley's team; Sam, Winter, Yoshino, Balto, Will and Riley himself, all found themselves in the main den once more. Winston and Luke sat across from them along with Jenna, Humphrey and Kate and they sat there quietly and patiently, waiting for their mission overview to begin.

In which it did shortly.

"Now you are all here this morning for the sake of wolves everywhere in this country, not just this pack" Winston began, gaining everyone's attention profusely. He then smiled to himself before continuing. "The Revolution have oppressed many, and are guilty of many crimes against the natural flow of this world. You are to go and locate where their next base of operations will be and then report back as soon as possible and do NOT engage them whenever possible; I don't want to have to deal with someone dying. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir" the five of them replied.

"Good" he affirmed. "You should take the time to say goodbye to your friends and family now, before you leave."

And so, Humphrey and Kate came up to Riley and Sam first as Winter and Yoshino went to speak with Winston.

"Soo..." Humphrey began before letting out a sigh. "It seems we'll be split up for a while, and I guess this is goodbye for now."

"Yes, well, the good thing is that we'll probably see you again in about three weeks, maybe less depending on how we go" Riley said, a light smile on his lips. "I doubt anything eventful will happen, so don't worry about us. This is just a low-level undercover mission, we shouldn't be in any danger so long as we stick to the plan" he added as Kate raised her brow skeptically.

"You have a plan?" she asked, somewhat knowing the answer. Riley glanced around as he let out a weak chuckle.

"Well...uh...only a basic one" he replied. "Follow Will to their base, get him to infiltrate, find out where they're moving next and then report back" he digressed, answering the unspoken question. Kate's brow went up again.

"You need this many wolves for that?" she asked.

"I guess that's up for discussion..." he trailed off with a laugh. Sam just rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

"Actually we didn't get this amount of wolves _just_ for this mission; we were already this amount before we knew what we were doing" Sam joined in. "You know, we were going to make this thing to combat the Revolution. This guy made a whole speech about it" she added as she playfully nudged Riley in the chest.

"It was not a speech!" he blurted.

"Really, that's all you got out of that? Saying that you had a speech?" she asked.

"No...I was just saying that it wasn't a speech! More like an enthusiastic-"

"-speech" Humphrey cut in, unable to hold in his laughter at their banter. Kate joined in as well before she noticed something different about the pair in front of them and her eyes widened when she realised what it was, a cheeky smile spreading across her face. _They marked each other, eh?_

"Say...you two..." she began, calming down the ridiculous argument. Riley and Sam looked to her, completely forgetting about their dispute.

"What is it Kate?" Riley asked, raising his brow.

"Oh, nothing...but" she paused, her smile embodying a mischievous tone as she held back a laugh, "you two didn't...you know..."

Riley and Sam's expression hardened as they looked at each other, seemingly confused, before their eyes widened and a blush formed on their faces.

"No we didn't why is everyone thinking that..." Riley replied quietly, hiding his embarrassed face. Sam giggled beside him as she rolled her eyes.

"Everyone? Or just Luke and Kate..." she laughed at his exaggeration.

"Shut up! You know what I mean..." he said quietly.

"Hold on a second" Kate interrupted them and they looked at her again. "But you guys marked each other, didn't you?" she asked, motioning to their necks. Riley's cheeks flared up again and it seemed he wasn't able to communicate anymore. _She has a point _he thought. He then glanced at Sam out of the corner of his eye. _She's right...only lone wolves mark their mates so no-one tries to steal them away, being lone wolves and all. It was a part of all wolves' nature...but...not until the two wolves mated first..._

He then stole another glance at Sam.

_We're weird mates. _

Sam, noticing Riley's lack of communication, picked up the answer for him. "Actually...we did it because we're _going_ to be mates..." she said, blushing. "Don't ask, it's a long story. We'll tell you when we get back, how does that sound?" she added quickly, stopping Kate's machine-gun of questions she was about to fire at her. Kate shut her mouth, indicating she wasn't going to question further before smiling again.

"Make sure you do, this is all very..._interesting_" Kate said.

"Yeah...I look forward to it" Humphrey added. "So..."_I guess this is goodbye then"_, eh Riley?" he then asked, remembering the words Riley only spoke what seemed to be recently, but was in fact over two months ago_. Time has gone fast...I wish you guys didn't have to leave yet_ he thought.

However as Humphrey asked him the question, Riley could only seem to make a few muttered words which no-one could really hear. Sam just rolled her eyes before blushing.

Despite her calm and collected outside, on the inside Sam was every bit as vulnerable and embarrassed as Riley was. Specifically about what was in their future.

Her mind was then brought back to reality when Kate called out her name softly and smiled warmly.

"Well, I guess we'll see you soon" Kate said as Sam reciprocated the smile, giving her a hug. "Oh and one more thing, we have something important to tell you about. However we don't really want you to worry so we'll tell you when you get back" she added.

Sam rolled her eyes. "If you didn't want us to worry, then why did you even tell us that you had something important to tell us?" she asked, letting out a slight chuckle. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

Kate's eyes widened before she clamped her paws down on Sam's mouth, glancing around only to find Winston having looked up from his chat with the others. His brow was raised.

"Good one!" she blurted out before letting out a sigh. "And NO! I'm _not_ pregnant" she added, slightly annoyed about the fact that Sam had most likely revealed her and Humphrey's..._activities_...to her father.

"Ha, sorry. Call it payback for all your teasing" Sam just laughed before she gave off a wink. "Just be glad your mother isn't here; I'm sure she'd definitely want a word with you."

Kate let out another sigh. "She hasn't been around lately, so I should be thankful for that. Besides, even if my dad knows now, it shouldn't be a problem. He knew it'd happen eventually" she said with a weak smile. "Anyway we were a bit off-topic here...I guess I should just hope for you to stay safe."

"Will do, don't worry about a thing" Sam replied as Luke called her and Riley over to him. "Again, sorry, and we'll be back before you know it so we can have a good talk about it all. See ya then" she added before walking over to Luke. Riley soon joined her when he finished saying goodbye.

"Now...you two...be careful" Luke began. "The Revolution is very dangerous...they will seriously stop at nothing to get what they want. They are merciless and will often capture and torture anyone who tries to meddle with them. I've seen it happen before."

"Luke...quit being overprotective, we'll be fine" Riley said, making Luke's brow raise and a mischievous smile appear. Riley's own brow rose in kind. _Don't tell me I encouraged you..._

"Fine then, but now, listen closely you two..." Luke began as he leant forward and both a skeptical Riley and Sam leant forward with him. "Even though you're going out of the territory, there are still other wolves around so don't get too intimate."

"SHUT UP! How did I know you were going to say that!?" Riley blurted out, wondering why Luke kept spurring them on like that. However, it was hard for Luke to take him seriously when Riley's cheeks began to turn crimson.

"I'm just looking out for you both...wouldn't want to get caught now, would we?" Luke asked as he walked away chuckling, leaving the two young wolves to wallow in their embarrassment. He then began to chat with Winston again.

"Damn it Luke...I swear..." Riley muttered under his breath.

"All right everyone, listen up" Winston called, the den's chatter slowly dying down to nothing. "It's daybreak...and so, your mission has begun. I wish you all the best of luck on your journey, please take care."

With that, Balto gave one last kiss to Jenna as he said goodbye once more, Humphrey and Kate wished Riley and Sam good luck as did Winston for Yoshino and Winter, and they finally set off towards the south with Will as their guide.

And so, the adventure began.

* * *

**A/N  
**

**Yeah I know it was short but don't complain, I cut it to make up for an extra chapter I'm doing.**

**Well, I'll be seeing you. Have a good one ;) and please don't forget to leave a review with anything I missed out on/general review. Cheers.**


	25. Part Three: Reversal (2)

**A/N**

**I went against my own rules to post this chapter. I normally go with more than 3k words every chapter with 2k words minimum, but this barely scraped through 1k.**

**Don't hate me, I just thought it was a good point to stop.**

**Hey, at least it means you all get to read sooner! And next chapter will be out quicker, too! And I promise it'll be past 2k ;)**

* * *

**Part Three**

**#2 Reversal**

* * *

"WAIT!" a voice yelled as its owner stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's wrong, Yoshino?" another voice asked.

"R-Riley...I c-can't go through h-here..." Yoshino replied, his legs trembling and shaking slightly. At first Riley pondered this, wondering why Yoshino was being so adamant, before he realised where they were.

They were right near where the Brutal Pack resided.

Will was about to complain before Riley held up his paw to silence him. "We'll go around" he told the guide, who now raised his brow in confusion.

"What? Why?" Will asked, clearly not understanding. Then again how could he know? No-one had told him anything and he assumed the most direct route would be practical. "That'll just waste time, we should just continue straight on so we can get there before they leave!"

"No" Riley replied sternly. "We'll go around. Which way do we go?"

Will sighed but respected his decision, remembering the debt he owed the wolf before him. "Ok..." he replied. "However, one way would take too long and the other goes close by a human settlement and we run the risk of hunters. You still want to follow through with that?"

Riley then took a moment to look around to Sam and Winter, who understood his reasons and Yoshino's pain, as if to ask them for their consent. They nodded and Balto, seeing this, decided to listen to his brother's choice and also nodded his head in agreement. "Yes" Riley replied.

"Well then, looks like we're going this way" Will sighed as he changed direction, beginning their wide circle around the enemy pack's border.

Riley looked back to Yoshino, who smiled gratefully at him as Winter came up to comfort him. However as they began walking, Balto came up beside Riley and gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Uh, what's up with..." Balto began, not knowing the white wolf's name.

"Yoshino?" Riley answered for him.

"That's the one"Balto continued. "Yeah, what's up with him? Did something happen?"

Riley looked around for a moment before answering. "Uh...well...long story short, he's not on friendly terms with those that reside within a pack that's nearby. Hence..." he stopped to look back at Yoshino, as did Balto, "...why, if you look closely, you can see that Yoshino can't really walk as well as most."

Balto looked closely and realised Riley was right, Yoshino _was_ stumbling his paws slightly. "I see...did they do that to him?" he then asked and Riley nodded. "How?"

"Well, again long story short, they used some sort of plant to mess with the brainwaves that control motor-movement. It's all to do with links in the brain, which they shattered."

"That's terrible!" Balto exclaimed in shock. He couldn't believe what wolves would do to others...no matter _what_ reason. "Why on Earth would they do such a thing..." he trailed off in awe. Augmented awe.

"Well..." Riley trailed off as he looked around before continuing, "...do not tell anyone else this, but Yoshino was a very..._compassionate_...wolf, and he was disgusted by said pack's..._activities_." Balto however was confused and pressed for Riley to digress. "These activities included killing and raping poor defenseless wolves that happened to pass by their territory. It was truly despicable."

Balto's mouth was agape in shock, his eyes wide in disgust. However for him the question still remained..."What did Yoshino _do_, to deserve such _aberrant_ and distasteful treatment?!" Balto choked out, feeling sorry for the troubled soul shuffling along behind them.

"He...began to kill them off" Riley reluctantly replied. "Slowly but surely, he punished those who would rape and kill without mind. And I completely agree with his actions, though I doubt _I_ would have gone to the extent he did..." he then trailed off as he looked up into the sky. He then looked back at his brother with a pained look on his face. "Let's not talk about this anymore...why not tell me how things are going back home? How's our father?" Riley asked, desperate for a change of subject. Everything lately had been death, death, death, what with the Revolution and Brutal Pack threat. _And_ the most disturbing for Riley; Liam's attempt to rape Sam as well as his following demise.

"Oh..." Balto said, sensing his brother's discomfort. "Well, yeah, he's been doing well but he's barely coping with mum's death and your disappearance. He was fairly shaken up when I awoke from my injuries and told him what happened" he said, remembering that night of insufferable pain he had in his side.

Riley was just about to reply before he noticed something in the noon sun's rays; a snowflake. Then another, and then another.

It was snowing.

"SNOW!" Riley exclaimed, going completely off topic as he ran up and jumped to try and bite a snowflake. Something Balto could only laugh at.

Of course snow was something Balto took for granted, being from Nome; where it snowed constantly, and he didn't fully understand Riley's enthusiasm. "What's so exciting about snow?" he asked the enthused Riley, who started to roll in the ever accumulating thick carpet beneath their paws.

"Oh, well. I just love the snow! There's not much of it down where I lived, so it's good stuff" Riley replied. "Unfortunately it seems we're going the way that I used to live, so it'll be gone soon."

"Hmm, really? Where we live, up in Nome, it snows almost constantly" Balto said with a slight smile.

"Wow...must be awesome there..." Riley trailed off as both he and the others looked around at the snow. Even Will, who seemed to be uncaring of things like this, was actually the opposite and was also transfixed by the sight.

_Everyone_ was transfixed. Yet, the only one who noticed the very quiet click sound was Yoshino. The only one who could notice it _and_ locate it instantaneously, was Yoshino. The only one who found the gleaming tip of a crossbow bolt poking out of the bushes and within seconds judged it's trajectory based on where it was pointing to, was Yoshino.

And where it was pointing to made Yoshino's heart stop.

It was pointing at Winter.

* * *

**A/N**

**"Ooooooh, so that's why the chapter's shorter!" is probs what you're all thinking. NONETHELESS! Next chapter will be out soon.**


	26. Part Three: Causticity (3)

**Part Three - #3 Causticity **

* * *

Everything next, happened in an instant.

Time stopped, the air seemed to vacuum out of Yoshino's grasp and his mind depleted of conscious thought. He acted purely upon instinct, his reflexes and reaction time seemingly unparalleled to any other individual despite his shattered and fragmented mind. There was no plausible explanation for how he achieved the impossible; defying his own broken mentality to reach out and grasp the life of one whom he could change the fate of.

Was that his purpose? Was he to use his abilities to change the fate of those around him, as if he were God?

Possibly.

Because when Winter turned with and aggravated look on her face, questions on her lips, stumbling back from Yoshino's body coming into contact with hers and knocking her away, she stopped after seeing the mixed expression of emotion on his face. An expression of happiness, relief, regret and fulfilment.

Happiness and relief that she was safe.

Regret that he would be able to see his friends' faces no more.

Fulfilment of his atonement...the atonement of his sins against those whom he'd punished. He would finally be able to feel burdened by them no more.

So as he saw their faces once more; the faces of the newfound friends who'd been so eager to help and support him, he could only help but feel sorrow.

_I wish I could have spent more time with you all..._

As that last thought went through his head, the white wolf collapsed onto the ground. His vision faded to black, and he could hear no more.

However despite the silence that accompanied him on his trip, there was still the piercing cry of a scream as it reverberated in the still air around the group.

"Y_OSHINO_!"

* * *

_Where am I?_

Yoshino looked around at his surroundings.

Blackness.

_Is this what happens when you die?_

"Yes," a voice from behind startled him, making him spin around to face who just spoke. Yoshino's eyes hardened at the figure in the shadows before him.

"Are you God?" he simply asked, receiving a slight chuckle as an answer.

"Of course not" the voice replied, still not visible to Yoshino.

"Who are you, then?" Yoshino demanded. "I'm fairly sure I just took a crossbow bolt to the chest, so I've got to be dead."

"Well you got that part right, at least. Not sure about the end, though..." the voice trailed off with a tone that told Yoshino whoever the voice was, was smirking.

"What do you mean? I'm not dead?" Yoshino asked in confusion.

"No, you're dead" the voice replied simply, making Yoshino frown in annoyance.

"Well what's going on then?!" he demanded. Never did he realise that would bring out said voice.

So, chuckling, a white wolf with gleaming yellow eyes materialized out of the darkness before Yoshino. "I assume you would like me to explain how you're going to continue living?"

Yoshino's brow raised. His mind began to construct logical scenarios to determine the legitimacy of the situation. He filtered through them. Then picked the most appropriate and related one. Then smiled.

"I'm a Phoenix" he simply stated. "Aren't I?"

He awaited the white wolf's response, but judging by how the wolf sat down with his body language speaking out to Yoshino, Yoshino could tell that he was right. He smiled. As did the wolf before him.

"I really like you..." the wolf simply smiled with a chuckle. "All the years I've stood on the sidelines, waiting for you to die or come close to it, and it's finally come. Now I can introduce myself." Yoshino listened in, feeling surprised at how he was the same as Riley. He couldn't wait to tell them. "I'm Kiba," the wolf introduced himself, "and I am one of the four original Phoenixes."

"Kiba, eh?" Yoshino asked himself. "I take it you know Toboe then?"

"Yes, of course. I noticed that he transcribed into physical form; not an easy thing to do. He lost most of his abilities doing so, too." Yoshino, being highly perceptive, listened carefully and picked up the "abilities" that Kiba mentioned.

"What do you mean by 'abilities'?" Yoshino asked.

Kiba could only chuckle.

"All will become apparent in due time, so please be patient," Kiba replied. "I can only chat with you for a small amount of time, but I'm always with you. For now, return to the world of the living, Yoshi'" Kiba teased as he winked, and then the blackness faded and Yoshino could only succumb into unconsciousness once more.

* * *

Will stared at the puddle of blood in amazement, before calling out to the others. "Q-Quickly, come h-here!"

Riley and Winter sat by the lifeless body of the hunter as Sam and Balto watched in silent fixation.

Winter, enraged, had appeared instantaneously before the hunter and prepared to rip his head off when the hunter produced a knife with a malicious grin spread on his face. Riley had seemingly appeared out of nowhere to rip-off said hunter's hand with utmost efficiency, allowing Winter to leap and sink her fangs deep into the human throat, destroying anything internally.

Needless to say, the hunter had died within seconds.

So now, as they all came back to their senses, they noticed a particular aura being restored.

When they turned their heads, none could say they weren't mentally perturbed from the sight.

For before them, white coat dyed red from blood, Yoshino stood shakily as he took a deep breath.

Riley just smiled as did Sam and Balto and Will's faces were amuck with perplexed confusion, but then there was Winter.

Eyes dilated and breaths quickened, Winter stole forward and slapped Yoshino with a loud and resounding _smack_ before she glared at him.

"Don't do that again," she threatened sternly before continuing past him and walking on. "I thought you were our guide, Will? Get a move on!" she then directed to the shocked former-lieutenant.

"O-Ok!" Will stuttered before quickly taking the lead once more and guiding them to their destination.

This left Balto, Riley, Sam and Yoshino to stop within the wake of the loud and harsh slap, before they all finally came back to their senses.

Balto decided it best to leave and return up by Will as Riley and Sam walked over to Yoshino, one question lingering in their mind.

"How?" they both practically burst at once.

It took Yoshino a second before realising that the crossbow bolt had in fact torn through his lungs before burying itself in his chest, causing an impossible survival.

"It was Kiba, wasn't it?" Riley answered their own questions. Yoshino slowly nodded, still feeling the shocking effects of Winter's slap. Despite her anger, Yoshino managed to notice the relieved and overjoyed gleam in her eyes as she passed him by.

"I had no idea..." the white wolf slowly trailed off. Well, mostly white, if you ignored the seeping and ghastly red upon his coat.

"When Toboe told me that he felt the presence of Kiba's aura, I had begun to assess whom it could be. The most logical explanation was you; with your strength I doubted you'd ever come close to dying, meaning I'd have no way of finding out," Riley said as he smiled. "So if you didn't know, it could well have been you. And look where we are now?"

"Yeah..." Yoshino replied mindlessly. "I-I need to rest..." he then said, the weight of Kiba's regenerative abilities now falling squarely on him. Kiba healed him, so now he had to feel the full pressure of such a task.

"Woah there," Sam said as she came to Yoshino's side, barely stopping him from falling over. "Riley, get the others, would you? It's not safe for us to stay here, we need to find a place for Yoshino to rest immediately."

* * *

In the midst of a nearby forest, one particular wolf was out and sleeping like a log.

But as well a Yoshino, Balto and Will had decided they were too tired to listen to a chat about what had just occurred and instead curled up and fell asleep. Despite her outburst earlier, Winter had taken a position next to Yoshino to constantly monitor how he was doing. She did care greatly, after all. As she did for all of the wolves in their party, even if she hardly knew some of them. They were part of the team and that was all that mattered.

However, one wolf couldn't help but lay on the ground in announce.

_Sam, it's cold_ Riley thought. _Please come back so I can snuggle up to you..._

Riley was right about it being cold. It was still snowing, but thankfully the trees were protecting the small area from snowfall. It didn't help with the temperature, though.

So after waiting another fifteen minutes, Riley decided to search for her.

Raising his nose to the air and picking up Sam's scent, Riley began to follow it until he could hear the sound of running water. Curiously and unwittingly, Riley walked through bushes.

"Sam-" he began, before stopping abruptly at what he saw.

Sam was sitting in the water and she was, well, (less than decent and taking a bath. She looked up to see Riley's cheeks flush and his eyes shut tightly, before he spun around quickly.

"I-I'm _so_ s-sorry Sam I-I-" he began but he couldn't finish his sentence before he buried his head in his paws out of embarrassment.

All Riley could hear was the sound of steps as Sam waded through the water and onto the bank of loose stones where he was laying on the ground. Above them, a canopy of trees continued to protect them from the snowfall.

"Say, Riley," Sam began as she stopped next to him. He gulped. "Don't tell me that was the first time you saw a _girl_?" she teased with a smile. Riley lifted his head out of his paws with a weak smile, knowing by her demeanor that she'd forgiven him already, and chuckled weakly.

"W-Well," he began with another nervous chuckle, "I-I...uh...well, m-maybe," he answered sheepishly before looking away and Luke's evil grin reappeared on Sam's lips once more.

"In that case," she started, moving in to whisper in his ear, "I_ don't suppose you'd want another look then?" _

Riley's jaw dropped and he nearly fainted when he heard that, the blush on his cheeks more evident that ever.

"I-I-I think I-I've interrupted your bath l-long e-enough so I-I'll see you back at c-camp," Riley said quickly as he began to leave, only to have Sam's paw hold his tail against the ground to stop him. A scared expression befell upon his face.

"Oh," Sam began innocently, "but I was pretty much done anyway." She then feigned an idea coming to mind before sincerely placing it forth, "I know what we'll do; _I'll_ just give _you_ a bath instead," she finished with a smile as she grabbed his tail in her jaws and began to drag him towards the lake.

"N-nonononononoNO!" Riley quickly exclaimed as he tried to find a foothold on the loose stones but to no avail. "It's t-too cold!" he argued, but it was in vain.

"If it's not too cold for me, it's not too cold for you," she replied with a grin.

It was then that Riley found himself being thrown into the water.

"SAAAAAAA-"

_Splash_.

Sam sat on the bank, giggling in amusement, before Riley resurfaced again.

Shaking, Riley barely managed to stand. "_It's so cold I'm going to die_!" he exaggerated, only causing Sam to laugh once more.

"Consider it payback from before," she replied back, remembering back to their water fight when they were camping out of the territory with Humphrey and Kate. "Oh, and I guess I can't have you dying on me, so I'll just have to WARM YOU UP MYSELF!" she yelled as she suddenly began to sprint through the shallow water towards him. It was one of those slow-flowing rivers that had one side deep, and the other side fairly shallow.

Riley's eyes widened once again when he saw her bolting towards him and, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge, decided to just let her completely tackle him.

And she did, sending them spiraling across the shallow water before finally ending up with Sam on top. She grinned triumphantly.

"Let's give you a bath now, hmm?" she asked before she licked his forehead and his eyes widened in surprise again.

"You're not going to give me a tongue-bath, are you?" he asked skeptically. She seemed to think for a few seconds before giving her answer.

"But of course, only the best for you," she replied with a mischievous grin as she gave him a long lick under his neck and up to his left ear, making him let out a sigh of pleasure. "Did you like that?" she asked and his expression quickly changed from one in pleasure to a straight face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he contradicted. Sam grinned again.

Then she licked him the same way, eliciting yet another silent rumble of a pleasured moan from Riley's chest.

"That's good to know," she said thoughtfully before licking him more and more, allowing more moans and laughs to escapade into the night.

Yep, Sam just found his weakness.

* * *

**A/N**

**I am terribly sorry for not updating sooner :P but please leave a review/follow/favourite to bring this story out of HIATUS. Yeh, I know I may have updated but it doesn't mean it's out of HIATUS. I've been experimenting techniques with my HTTYD story about a Night Fury (Toothless) and a female Night Fury OC, the usual romance you'd expect from me. Don't worry, I won't pull an "NFS Lover" on you and abandon this story to go to HTTYD, that'd just be pathetic. **

**Anyway, please have a good one and I'll catch you round, hopefully sometime soon ;)**


	27. Part Three: Intricacy (4)

**Part Three - #4 Intricacy**

* * *

They woke with a mangled moan in the harsh sunlight that was reverberating off the crystal snow, eyes squinting and beginning to focus.

"Good night sleep, Riley?" a bright voice seemed to smile.

"Good morning, yes thanks," Riley replied as he turned to find the owner of the voice to be Yoshino. Yoshino? To Riley that didn't make sense. The wolf that had been dead, was now awake and cheery as if nothing had happened.

"Oh and I feel much better now, thanks for asking," Yoshino said with a cheeky smile, making Riley roll his eyes. Riley then turned to Sam, who was snuggling into his side. After they'd finished messing around at the river, the two had returned back to the campsite for a peaceful night's sleep.

"Good morning," he greeted her, and a muffled reply could be heard. "I'm sorry what was that? I couldn't hear you, maybe you should get your face out of my side," he said with a slight grin.

"Good morning then!" Sam exclaimed, her head popping out of his side to kiss him on the cheek before snuggling back into the crook of his neck. He rolled his eyes yet again.

"Looks like I'm not moving anytime soon, do you think you can hunt this morning?" he then asked the white wolf. After the events of the day before, Riley thought there was a possibility that Yoshino was cured of his ailments. To no avail, unfortunately.

"Yesterday was blind luck, and I already had another chat with Kiba when I was asleep," Yoshino replied, a sullen look forming on his face. "He said he couldn't cure me of my, uh, 'condition', unfortunately."

"That's disappointing, I'm sorry," Riley said before an idea came to his head. "Hold up, did he say anything useful?" he asked and Yoshino smiled.

"You bet he did. But...I'll tell you later, when you haven't got something clinging to your side," he replied, referring to Sam, who rolled over at the mention of her.

"I'm off to hunt some breakfast," she said as she stretched, before looking at Yoshino, "go and tell him." With that, she began to walk off towards a nearby snow-covered meadow.

"Well then," Yoshino stated as he looked across at the others who were still asleep. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Why not?" Riley replied with a smile before getting up and stretching. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I actually feel much better now, like some strength is flowing into me," Yoshino replied.

"I had the same feeling after I met Toboe, but it only lasted until he appeared in physical form," Riley said as the two started walking. "After that I could barely feel anything, besides an underlying connection of course."

"Hold on!" Yoshino exclaimed as something clicked in his head. He turned to Riley. "Kiba told me that Toboe lost most of his abilities when he changed to physical form!"

"Yeah tell me about it," Riley sighed. "And apparently there was some really cool stuff I could do."

"Yeah you could! But you should be careful because if you hurt yourself too badly, you could die and Toboe won't be able to heal you," Yoshino replied with concern. "Has he told you about the teleporting thing?"

Riley's brow rose.

"What teleporting thing?" he asked skeptically.

"If you needed help, you would be able to call for Toboe in your head and provided there's a water source near you, he can teleport using it as some sort of gateway. Apparently it has something to do with someone named Cheza, but that's all I know," Yoshino added. "Go on, there's a puddle over there," he said, motioning to a small area of water not large enough to turn into ice, "try calling for Toboe in your head."

Riley then frowned thoughtfully, before deciding to give it a try. "Ok," he replied as he walked over to the puddle. He then concentrated for a moment as he began to call for Toboe.

The response he got was not what he expected.

_And just what do you think you're doing?_ he heard Toboe's voice in his head.

I _was just-_

_-You were just what? Trying to waste my life energy just to see how something works?_

_Well...wait what? Life energy? _Riley thought back. This was confusing him.

_Yes, life energy Riley. Once I use it all up I'll be forced to revert back to Spirit form and I won't be able to change back to physical form again. Teleporting through the Gateways uses it up, so if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep. Don't ask me to teleport again unless you actually need me to. _

With that, Riley felt his connection dissipate and he frowned.

"What did he say?" Yoshino asked.

"You didn't tell me that teleporting would take up his life energy!" Riley exclaimed.

"Uh...sorry. I didn't know," Yoshino smiled meekly. "But he could do it, right?" he asked and Riley nodded.

"Anyway," Riley began, another question coming to mind, "why did Sam have to leave? Anything I can know, she can know." Yoshino was confused for a moment before he understood what Riley was saying.

"Oh that? I just didn't want to wake the others. You couldn't get up to walk with me until Sam gave you up," he finished with a smirk, making Riley flush momentarily. "Anyway, it was nothing about privacy. The others were all sound so I didn't want to disturb them."

"Ah, I see," Riley replied as he looked forward. Before them were two sets of train tracks that led from a hole in the mountain that they'd completely overlooked from being so caught up in their conversation. However, as they both walked up to it they could hear the metal strips begin to reverberate. "Looks like a train's coming," Riley said as the two of them stepped back from lines a bit.

"Yeah, but I wonder what sort it is. You think it's a freight train or one with people on it?" Yoshino asked.

"Dunno," Riley replied before he turned to Yoshino again. "So, was that all you wanted to say to me?" he asked, feeling that he was left a little empty-pawed.

"Actually, yeah it was. Kiba can't really talk to me for too long, and he explained that it was because...well...my head is too messed up," Yoshino replied. "Sorry if you thought it was going to be something big, I don't think that they have any sort of information like that."

"No problemo," Riley replied with a smile before thoughtfully adding, "but you know, I really do hope you get better." Yoshino smiled again at his friend's optimistic attitude.

"Thanks," Yoshino replied as the train came out of the mountain entrance, and the sound of it rushing past was all they could hear. It was a train carrying people, but it was traveling too fast for then to make out anything on board.

They both sat and watched as the train sped past before they began to turn and leave back for the camp, ready to dig in to whatever Sam may have caught for breakfast.

However, as they did, the end of the train finished rushing past and a satisfied shout could be heard and the both of them turned around to see what it was. They were both...confused.

There, in front of them, they watched as a wolf leaped into the air off of the train, performing an arial flip before landing smoothly on the ground and skidding to a stop after a few meters. It was a male wolf with medium-dark red fur and brown-olive eyes, and he seemed to be grinning ecstatically.

"That was absolutely awesome!" he shouted out, seeming to not notice the two wolves that were staring at him. "Well, I suppose I should get a move on-" he began, before stopping himself when he turned and saw the two wolves in front of him and his eyes widened. "You two..." he trailed off, focusing on Yoshino. "Yoshino? Is that you?"

* * *

**A/N**

**Yeah I ended it here because I couldn't be bothered writing any more for now...so deal with what you're given. Adios. With further adieu, you'll probably not be hearing for me for a bit whilst I get the plot ideas laid out in front of me. I'm planning my next move. It's like a game of chess. We're in part three, I know how I'm going to end this part as well as what's going to be in parts four and five. That's how much I've thought about this story. I just don't have the time to write for multiple stories at once and this one has been going for a while. I'm not abandoning this story, heavens no, but the best I can describe it is that it'll be in a coma. You'll just have to sit and wait until I have the time to wake it up. So have a good one and Merry Christmas!**


	28. Author's Note

**A/N**

**As of today, it has been a year since I last updated Detrimental Reasons, and unfortunately this is not a new chapter. I just thought, being a year without any correspondence, you might like to know what's going on. **

**Well, I'm still writing another fanfiction story - Darker than Night - which in itself hasn't been updated for a while now, and now that I need to start writing my actual novel soon, I'll end up not having enough time for anything else. Life has been busy. I _have_ got plans to rewrite Detrimental Reasons into a more original story, plans which of course cannot be implemented until time has been acquired, but other than that I really don't seem to have any other news. **

**Nonetheless, thanks for taking the time to read this note, and I hope you are still keen on the story when it finally updates again. **

**I will post an update to this story again if/when Detrimental Reasons receives a reboot. **

**Thanks again, **

**TLP**


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